


Last Train to Rockaway

by idreamofsoup, NeutronStarChild



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: AU_gust_2020, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Au-gust, Depression, F/M, Full Moon, New York City, Soulmates, Subways
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:42:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25649737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idreamofsoup/pseuds/idreamofsoup, https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeutronStarChild/pseuds/NeutronStarChild
Summary: Kagome is bone-tired from her long day when she encounters the type of asshole who has the gall to smoke on the subway train. After she confronts him, both their lives veer off into completely different directions. How will Kagome handle this mysterious stranger with red eyes, silver hair, and so much confidence it’s sexy? How will Inuyasha deal with the lost memories from his full moon night? But like the last stop of the last train of the night, there are times that your destination is inevitable.Glorious accompanying artwork done byi-dream-of-soupThis story is being written in part forAU-gustWinner offorBest AU and Best Dramain 2021 Q1 Inuyasha Fandom Awards byFeudalConnection!
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha
Comments: 481
Kudos: 305
Collections: AUgust 2020, Divergent Adventures of Inuyasha





	1. The Alluring Asshole

**Author's Note:**

> [](https://feudalconnection.tumblr.com/post/643300924807348225/quarter-1-2021-winners)
> 
> Winner **Best AU/AR and Best Drama** in 2021 Q1 by the [Feudal Connection](https://feudalconnection.tumblr.com/post/643300924807348225/quarter-1-2021-winners)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story inspired from art by [@i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/)  
> Youtube playlist designed for thie fic by [@i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/) linked [here](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5euIqHPtTSEsMLVivZHdKu4j5C3efpqZ)  
> Betaed by [Fawn_Eyed_Girl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fawn_Eyed_Girl) and [Ruddcatha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruddcatha)

[ ](https://dreaming-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/641320948845395968/say-hello-to-the-inspiration-for)

Artwork by [@dreaming-of-soup](https://dreaming-of-soup.tumblr.com)

* * *

That she didn’t fall asleep on the ride home was a miracle. For that she blamed  _ him _ . The fucking asshole who couldn’t read the “No Smoking” sign that was literally behind his shoulder. Did he know how long Kagome’s day had been? That she was bone-tired from having to work a double-shift, all while keeping Dr. Mukotsu’s wandering hands away from her ass? All she wanted to do now was to go home, have a nice bath, and maybe a glass of wine to wind down.

Kagome coughed audibly, drawing the stranger’s gaze. A fanged smirk appeared on his face, and his eyes—cyan pupils around red—trailed up and down her body. He leaned forward, removing his clawed hands from the bar, then crossed them over his chest. She had not missed the purple stripe that adorned his marble-cut abs, the silver hair that billowed effortlessly down his back, or the triangular ears that perched elegantly atop his head. A demon. He was handsome, and he was cocky—two things that only served to irritate Kagome more.

“No smoking.” Kagome jabbed her finger toward the sign.

The stranger let out a silent chuckle, then put his hands in his pockets, but made no motions toward the cancer stick dangling from his mouth. Instead, he strode forward, coming to a stop just in front of her (god he was tall...) then swiveled around and took the unoccupied seat next to her. Kagome felt heat rising to her face, though she was not sure if that was from her anger at him, or something else.

“Free country,” the stranger rasped as he spread his knees, intentionally making contact with her own leg.

_ Fucking manspreader too, _ Kagome growled to herself. She knew this guy, and a hundred guys like him. True, yes, he was unbelievably attractive. And fine, there was a brief flash of wanting to run her tongue over that purple stripe, but she had had  _ enough _ with assholes already. She worked with enough of them. She’d dated enough of them. She didn’t need one more. Even if he…  _ did _ things to her insides.

“I honestly don’t give a shit that you don’t care about killing yourself with that thing, but… I’d appreciate if you didn’t subject me to it too,” Kagome grumbled; she knew she shouldn’t engage, but goddammit it had been a fucking day.

“You gonna do something about it?” The stranger turned his utterly exotic eyes toward Kagome, who only then noticed that a purple stripe adorned not only his abs, but also his face.

Without thinking, Kagome snatched the cigarette out of his mouth and snuffed it out with the heel of her croc.

“I guess I just did something about it.” Kagome crossed her arms, and fixed her eyes on the man. She was pleased to watch the look of dumbfounded realization hit him at what she did. She wasn’t sure why she was indulging in this—why testing the edges of her temper with this guy felt so good, but some part, some wild, deep down part, was having the time of its life.

“Cheeky,” the stranger smirked, making a show of trailing his eyes down Kagome’s leg to the cigarette butt still under her croc. “Well… if you’re not gonna let me smoke, you better find a better way to entertain me, kitten.”

“Isn’t this your stop,  _ stranger? _ ” Kagome countered, but… she couldn’t help but like the game they were playing. Despite the stink of cigarette smoke that rose off of him, being close to him left a tightness in her stomach, one that she suspected would have to be taken care of in the bathtub.

“You and I both know I ain’t gettin’ off til you’re gettin’ off kitten,” the stranger countered, causing the knot in Kagome’s stomach to coil even tighter. Confident motherfucker. Confident hot motherfucker.

“You don’t know how to take no for an answer, do you?” Kagome challenged, but she didn’t lean away from his contact.

“If you were thinkin’ about sayin’ no, I’d be on my way,” the man raised his eyebrow. “You don’t ride the train this time o’ night normally, do ya? It’s no time to be walkin’ home alone.”

“I’ve walked home plenty of times at this time of night,  _ thank you _ .” Kagome could feel the irritation surging again—the  _ nerve _ of this guy!—“Strangers on trains are a lot more trouble.”

The man had the gall to chuckle. “ _ This _ stranger certainly is trouble.”

“More trouble than you’re worth…” Kagome grumbled.

“Exactly enough trouble to be worth it,” he quipped.

Kagome shot him a look.

“But I’m the good kind o’ trouble,” he purred, leaning so close to her ear that she could feel the heat of his breath.

“So… you expect me to just… let  _ you _ , the asshole who smokes on the train, walk me home? To where I live? I’ve had a shit day buddy. The last thing I need is some… some…” Kagome fumed, but couldn’t finish her thought—because it finished with the words  _ incredible sex. _

“Yeah,” the man said simply, “and the given name’s Inuyasha. Though I do answer to ‘asshole.’”

“Kagome,” Kagome said, “And I  _ don’t _ answer to ‘kitten.’”

“Well will you look at that, I think we just had a breakthrough.” Inuyasha offered his hand to her. “And now… it ain’t a stranger walking you home. So… guess you’re just gonna have to let me.”

God. She  _ was _ going to let him. She was going to let this asshole gorgeous stranger named Inuyasha, with the alluring eyes and stripes on his perfect abs, who stunk like cigarettes, know where she lived.

Kagome sighed, then met Inuyasha’s hand and shook it.

If Inuyasha’s grin could get wider, and cockier, he managed to do it. Kagome swore Inuyasha was breaking laws of physics with the arrogance that radiated off of him. The  _ hot delicious _ arrogance.

“Now then,  _ kitten _ ,” he said, “What’s your stop?”

“Sorry, did you say something? All I heard was an asshole barking into the wind,” Kagome retorted, slapping Inuyasha in the chest. The  _ solid, hard, perfectly-muscled _ chest.

Inuyasha threw his head back in a raucous laugh, then wrapped his arm around Kagome’s shoulder. “Goddamn woman. I haven’t had this much fun in decades.”

It wouldn’t take long for Inuyasha to know which stop was hers, because it was the end of the line. Far Rockaway. It was still New York, but it wasn’t glamorous. It was what she could afford, and it was still on the A line, so she could get in and out of Manhattan without too much trouble.

“Far Rockaway,” Kagome finally answered. They were almost there.

“Shit, you really do live at the end of the world,” Inuyasha chuckled, but then something in his tone changed. “And kitten, you should  _ not _ be walking home alone at night out there.”

Kagome scowled, but… he was right. She had walked home at that hour of the night many times before, but that did not mean it was entirely safe. She was always smart about it, leaving her phone in her pocket, keeping aware of her surroundings, and carrying her keys in between her fingers. Most of the guys to be worried about were only after money, and Kagome didn’t exactly look like she had much.

But tonight she would have an escort. One that she thought she should fear but didn’t. One whose cockiness set her nerves on fire in bad ways… and good ways…

“Far Rockaway, last stop,” came the droning call of the speaker system.

Kagome stood up and headed toward the exit. She didn’t have to look back to know that Inuyasha was there; she could feel the heat radiating off of his body, inches away from her own.

“I’m not going to have sex with you,” Kagome rasped, knowing Inuyasha would hear (though she also needed a reminder herself), “So don’t even try it.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it kitten.” Inuyasha had positioned his lips nearly on Kagome’s ear; his whisper sent tingles down her spine. She hated that she liked it.

Finally, the subway car came to a stop, and Kagome worked her way down the platform. Inuyasha stepped next to her as she walked out of the station and down the street. The night was unusually mild for the fall, and the full moon illuminated the sky, leaving it feeling like it was twilight instead of midnight.

“So… what do you do Ka-go-me?” Inuyasha asked, sparing a glance down at her.

“Nurse,” Kagome replied. “I’m surprised the scrubs didn’t give it away.”

“Damn shame nurses stopped wearing those tiny little dresses and cute little hats,” Inuyasha groaned, making a show of running his eyes up and down Kagome’s body. “Though this… leaves just enough to the imagination.”

“Because assholes couldn’t keep their hands or their eyes to themselves,” Kagome shot Inuyasha a sharp look. “Besides, being a nurse means being on my feet all day. Getting all sorts of bodily fluids spewed at me. It means creepy patients and sweet patients and those patients that end up dying the day we thought we were going to send them home. So if my job means I get to wear comfy scrubs and crocs as balance for all the other shit, I will take it.”

“You sure know how to set a mood,” Inuyasha teased, “Though… I know one asshole who’s havin’ trouble keepin’ his eyes and hands to himself.”

“You’re insufferable.” Kagome rolled her eyes, but smiled. “So… Inuyasha… what do  _ you _ do? Besides commit misdemeanors?”

“Boxing coach,” Inuyasha shrugged.

“So you like punching things.” Kagome poked her elbow into Inuyasha’s side. 

“No, I like telling people how to punch things,” Inuyasha laughed. “If  _ I _ punched things, I’d upgrade those misdemeanors to felonies.”

“Good to know…” Kagome replied, taking a deliberate step away from him.

In response, Inuyasha darted out in front of her, and puffed out his chest, an annoyingly irresistible smirk on his face.

“Punch me,” Inuyasha said.

“Are you serious?” Kagome looked at Inuyasha as if he’d sprouted a horn.

“Yeah, I wanna see your form.” Inuyasha bounced up and down, still directly in front of her, though careful not to block her way.

“I have no form,” Kagome huffed, but damn if she wasn’t considering it.

“Ball up a fist and show me,” Inuyasha suggested, and Kagome did. She lifted her fist, and watched as Inuyasha inspected it.

“First off, you’re gonna break your thumb if you tuck it in like that.” Inuyasha carefully took her hand in his and rearranged her fingers. “There. No broken fingers. Now… punch me with that fist.”

“Fucking masochist,” Kagome grumbled, but she obediently took her fist, pulled it back, then put all the force she could muster into striking Inuyasha in his shoulder. His meaty… solid… shoulder.

Inuyasha took a step back from the blow, his eyes wide. He looked… excited.

“Here I thought you were gonna hold back.” Inuyasha stepped deliberately into Kagome’s space. “You’re feisty.”

“You’re easy to punch,” Kagome countered. “Serves you right for smoking on the subway.”   
Inuyasha barked out a laugh. 

“Violence is never the answer, kitten,” Inuyasha said. “Though… if some shithead tries to put their hands on you… just… do what you just did.”

“And what if an asshole tries to put his hands on me?” Kagome dared Inuyasha to answer. She was almost home, and she was not sure she was quite ready to say goodnight.

“Well, assholes are different.” Inuyasha’s grin grew wide and his look grew heated. “For assholes, you should put on one of those old timey nurse outfits.”

“Oh, I only put on my old timey nurse outfit for dipshits,” Kagome said. “Too bad you’re an asshole, but not a dipshit.”

“I could be a dipshit…” Inuyasha leaned in to Kagome, lingering just close enough for her to feel his breath tickle her skin once again.

In the heated moment, Kagome realized she was at her door. She was… disappointed that this had to end, but resolved that she would not be letting Inuyasha into her house that night. Even if she wanted to. Really,  _ really _ , badly.

“This is me,” Kagome mumbled, opening her purse and fumbling for her key.

“So, what do I need to  _ be _ to get to go through that door, Ka-go-me?” The way Inuyasha said her name was so sexy Kagome almost nodded. But no. She had an early shift tomorrow.  _ No one _ was going through that door but her.

“A woman. Named Kagome,” Kagome replied, but… even as he was not getting through her door… perhaps… it wouldn’t hurt… “Although… I  _ do _ sometimes kiss assholes.”

“Well shit, not sure I’ll ever be a woman named Kagome,” Inuyasha said, leaning in so close that she felt breath. “But I certainly  _ can _ be an asshole

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/624566798998749184/okay-so-there-is-a-fantastic-new-fic-about-to-drop)

Artwork by [@i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/624566798998749184/okay-so-there-is-a-fantastic-new-fic-about-to-drop)

* * *

Inuyasha didn’t let Kagome retort before claiming her mouth with his. He pressed himself against her so closely she could feel every muscle of his chest, and in particular, that he was  _ excited _ to be there. His hands came around her body and found their way onto her back, pulling her  _ even closer _ to him. His mouth opened and Kagome felt his tongue finding entry into her own mouth. It tasted  _ disgusting _ .

_ Fucking smokers _ , Kagome grumbled to herself. And yet, she didn’t want to stop. In fact, she let her tongue find its way into Inuyasha’s mouth, too, if only so she could feel his fangs for herself. They were definitely real. Finally, Kagome pushed away from the man who did things to her. Who was so confident she almost let him into her apartment. Who made her  _ feel _ things and want things. Regretting it but resolved, she took a step back, and merely stared at him.

“So, why exactly did you walk me home tonight?” Kagome asked, still breathing heavily.

“Because…” Inuyasha replied, a sinful grin across his kiss-swollen lips, “When I see something I want, I chase it until I catch it.”

Inuyasha raised Kagome’s wrist to his mouth, then bit down. Kagome winced, but instead of pain, she was met with an intense sensation of pleasure. It flowed from the point where his fangs met her wrist, down her body, pooling at her center. Kagome had to swallow down the moan that tried to escape her lips. When she reopened her eyes, she found Inuyasha laving the spot he’d sunk his teeth into with his tongue. It was probably just moments, but it felt like hours. With every one of Inuyasha’s licks, something remarkable felt like it was taking root in Kagome’s body. She wanted to resist, to pull her hand away… but more… she wanted to lean in. To see how deep the rabbit hole went. Just as Kagome decided to see how far down the path she dared to walk, Inuyasha stepped backward. He relished Kagome’s wrist with one final decadent stroke of his tongue, then turned around and started to walk away.

“I’ll be seein’ you,  _ Ka-go-me _ ,” was all he called over his shoulder before disappearing into the moonlit night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The full moon - full demon Inuyasha here was an idea inspired by [Alannada's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alannada) [Forest Spirit.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10437837) If you have not already checked it out, you should!
> 
> If you want to see an amazing full demon Inuyasha, check out [Mating Fever](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20287066/chapters/48092140) by [ClearWillow/BrigidtheFae](https://clearwillow.tumblr.com/)!


	2. The Forgotten Night

Inuyasha fucking hated the morning after the full moon. On this particular one, he found himself bent over his toilet puking what could only have been described as kebab and falafel. Seeing and smelling it only made him retch more (what the  _ fuck _ had he eaten last night?). His full demon self had recently taken to smoking, probably as yet another a way to royally piss him off. When he woke up, it felt like cigarettes were stuck up his goddamned nose. His own stink was the reason he started puking, but whatever his full demon self had eaten was the reason he was continuing.

“Fuck.”

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/625809954154201088/awww-look-at-our-poor-sick-baby-recovering)

Artwork by [@i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/625809954154201088/awww-look-at-our-poor-sick-baby-recovering)

* * *

Oh, the joys of being a half-demon. One day a month he turned into a human with the emotional capacity of a child and the emotional baggage of a 200 year old man who’d not been hugged since his mother was alive. But the  _ other _ day a month was worse. On the night of the full moon, Inuyasha… transformed. He couldn’t remember what he did, just that his full demon self seemed to take vindictive pleasure in torturing him. Sometimes he woke up in a random woman’s bed (they scream when you are a different person in the morning than at night, it turns out…), he woke up in jail a couple of times, and recently, his full demon seemed to really enjoy exploring the entirety of the state of New York, leaving Inuyasha stranded several times without a car at some backwoods lake.

He didn’t like to think about it—that day he lost control of himself.

A long time ago, he’d been chased by a mob. Cornered, he let himself give in to his demon blood, and… well… the mob was no more. As Inuyasha washed his hands raw, unable to remove the smell of those men’s blood, he vowed he would never let his demon blood take that sort of control of him again, shoving that part of himself so far down he hoped that it could never come out again. That was the day he started blacking out every night of the full moon.

At least he was in his own apartment this morning. And there was no woman in bed with him. So… his full demon had been less of an asshole than usual. He missed the days when the full demon didn’t smoke; at least then he could pick up clues as to what he was up to from the scents on him. But no. The full demon wanted to make everything a fucking surprise.

When Inuyasha was fairly certain he had finished puking up everything in his stomach (and probably some stomach lining, for good measure), he dragged himself away from the toilet and turned on the shower. He made it hot. And he  _ hated _ it hot. But that was the only way he could successfully scrub the cigarette stink out of his skin. It would take a good few days more before the stench was completely washed out of his hair.

_ If this asshole doesn’t let up on the fucking cigarettes, I am gonna shave my head, _ Inuyasha grumbled as he peeled off his clothing. As he stepped into the shower, he stuck his head directly into the path of the water. Despite its burn, the water felt good. It always did after the full moon. Inuyasha closed his eyes, savoring torrents of water rushing through his hair, beginning the process of washing away his full demon night.

He reached for the shelf in his little shower, finding the plastic bottle on it. The shampoo/shower gel was made for people with a lot of skin sensitivities, and claimed to be scentless. 

“Scent-free my ass,” he scoffed.

Inuyasha took an enormous dollop and started working his hair into a lather, massaging the stuff into his scalp. He took the remainder of it and rubbed it into his skin. He knew he’d have to “lather, rinse, repeat” at least a couple more times if he wanted to make it through the day without throwing up again. That was why showers on mornings after the full moon took an hour: because his asshole full demon had started smoking.

Finally he was done. At least the stink wasn’t distracting him, and the kebab was now out of his system. Inuyasha toweled off and braided back his hair. Until the fucking smoke smell was gone, he was  _ not _ going to let it flow freely. He padded over to his closet and threw on his usual red hooded sweatshirt and track pants. He still hated the feel of shoes on his feet, but even with half-demon immunity, he didn’t walk around the streets of New York without protection. Before he left his apartment, Inuyasha grabbed a granola bar and a bottle of water—his stomach was still not ready for food, but, if this full moon night was like the rest, he would regain his appetite in about an hour.

Inuyasha looked down at his phone as he left his apartment for the subway, relieved to see no new messages. At least if the asshole gave out his phone number to some floozy the night before, the girl didn’t try to call or text him. Those full moon mornings were always the worst, worse even than jail. He  _ hated _ trying to sneak out of some girl’s apartment and get home, but at least the asshole always used protection…

So what  _ was  _ it that he got up to the night before? Usually, something was trashed in his apartment, or he had some exorbitant credit card receipt from whatever bar he’d gone to. But not last night… it left Inuyasha feeling like he was missing something profoundly important. But maybe, just maybe… the asshole had left everything well enough alone, and he could have a peaceful day after the full moon.

_ On my way in—see you in 10-15 depending on if I catch the express  
_ Inuyasha texted Sango, his friend and the owner of the gym where he coached.

_ You’re earlier than usual for last night _ 🌕  
Fucking Sango. She’d caught him  _ once _ as a full demon, and now he would never hear the end of it. At least she stopped calling him “werewolf” after he threatened to quit.

No self-respecting dog demon (or half-demon for that matter) would  _ ever _ let anyone call them a  _ wolf. _

Luck was on Inuyasha’s side that day, and he made the express train up through Manhattan. Something about the subway felt… familiar. As if echoing somewhere in his subconscious that something important happened, but his full moon nights did that to him. Usually it was nothing, but the tingling down his spine was enough for him to shudder.

_ What the fuck did you do, asshole? _ he thought to himself, still clinging to the desperate hope that he had had a quiet full moon night… for once…

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/625532115736461312/its-tuesday-and-that-means-teaser-art-for-last)

Artwork by [@i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/625532115736461312/its-tuesday-and-that-means-teaser-art-for-last)

* * *

He ascended the steps up toward the street, then headed to the gym. It was a basic gym in a nondescript building, but people “in the know” loved it. Sango and her family had owned the gym for generations, and specialized in martial arts. They’d hired Inuyasha about a decade earlier, impressed with both his restraint (demons were not always  _ gentle _ with the buildings they were in, or the people they were fighting), as well as his ability to take hits.

Sure, some of the demon clientele liked having Inuyasha as a coach (in part because it meant they could punch a half-demon), but Inuyasha kept his clients because he was extremely good at his job. He enjoyed the details of the body and he enjoyed following the form of muscles. He was excellent at knowing what punch his opponent would throw by looking at exactly which muscles were flexing. It made him a natural boxer, but Inuyasha had always hated being in the ring. The smell of blood and sweat of the men he was fighting always brought him back to his childhood, when there were no gloves and the prize was not a title, but Inuyasha’s life. The mobs would always haunt him.

That was why he coached. He loved watching the weakest of his clients get stronger, proud to have been the one to nurture their budding confidence; and, he could always find a strength in his clients. Shippo, the biggest pain in the ass of them, was a fox demon. He was weak and so were his attacks, but he was a genius at misdirection. The proudest day of Inuyasha’s life was the day that Shippo won a bout.

“Oi, Sango,” Inuyasha called as he made his way through the doors. “Got anyone for me today?”

Sango opened the door to the manager’s office. She had long straight brunette hair, and clever brown eyes. One look at her revealed that she was fit, but also that she could kick your ass. And when men commented on the former, they were often gifted with the latter.

“Not until 11. I’ll take it Mr. Hyde behaved last night?” Sango walked over to Inuyasha.

“Seems so. Just the normal stuff—cigarettes and... kebabs.” Inuyasha grunted. He’d learned long ago to not think too hard about it when his demon was quiet on a full moon. It was better that way. “You want a sparring partner?”

“Sure,” Sango smirked. “You’re the only one here who can take my punches full force.”

Inuyasha grinned, and pulled off his hoodie. He was on his way to grab some pads when Sango chased him down and grabbed him.

“Um,  _ Yash _ , what is  _ this _ ?” Sango pointed to Inuyasha’s arm.

Inuyasha followed Sango’s finger. A small marking ran down his left wrist. Two elongated semicolon shapes surrounded four small purple beads, almost like a wide, fangy grin. The two “fangs” were white, but gave off a pearlescent glow, and the purple beads sparkled like amethysts. It was beautiful, otherworldly, and shone with its own light. It looked as if it was smiling just for him.

“What the—” Inuyasha gawped at the small ornate marking that adorned his wrist.

“Is that… a  _ mating mark _ ?” Sango squealed.

Inuyasha pulled his hand away from Sango so quickly she lurched forward slightly before catching herself. Her look of annoyance quickly gave way to a look of pity, clearly reacting to whatever it was she saw in Inuyasha’s face.

_ FUCK. _ This was bad. This was worse than  _ anything _ his demon ever did, including the nights he woke up in jail. Somewhere, there was some hapless woman (he hoped a woman… FUCK) who carried his mark. He was soul-bonded. Forever. To someone he couldn’t remember.

“I have to go.” Inuyasha backed away from Sango so fast he fell over an exercise bike.

“Mr. Hyde was busy after all!” Sango laughed, trying to come over and help Inuyasha up.

“This is not fucking FUNNY, Sango!” Inuyasha shrieked, pulling himself up from the ground, “FUCK. He’s never…. FUCK!”

Sango must’ve seen the sheer panic in Inuyasha’s face, because she stopped advancing on him, and her face turned serious.

“You can’t remember…  _ anything _ ?” Sango asked.

“No.” Inuyasha’s nausea was back.

“I’ll… take your morning clients,” Sango muttered.

Inuyasha wanted to argue, to tell her he was fine, but he was  _ not fucking fine _ . He whimpered.

“Hey…” Sango approached him, and put her hand on his shoulder, “It’s going to be okay. And… if you need me, I’m here. Take the morning, take a walk. If you want to come back in the afternoon, you’re welcome to.”

Inuyasha started to leave, but before he made it through the door he stopped.

“Thanks. Sango.”

“Anytime Yash.”

Usually Inuyasha hopped on the subway to go home. He tended to avoid doing things that made it clear he had demonic heritage, but he didn’t want to be anywhere near people and he wanted to be home as fast as possible. A few humans seeing him take the rooftop path? A small price to pay to be home so he could panic properly. He leaped with as much power as he dared, and made it home in half the time it normally took by subway.

He charged through the door of his apartment, nearly knocking it off its hinges. When he closed it, he did it much more gingerly.

Someone was now his soulmate. Some poor soul who thought she’d been marked by a demon was going to wake up to find herself bonded to a lowly half-demon. Their fucking souls had accepted one another, but it didn’t matter; soulmate or no, half-demon scum Inuyasha was not what the person would expect, and even as her soul accepted him, it was fucking obvious that she herself would not. It was almost farcical how much his full demon had fucked him.

He searched his apartment for clues to what he’d done the night before, but the kebabs he retched up came from a kebab stand down the street from his apartment. And the fucking cigarette smoke had obscured every other fucking scent. So he had no clue who she was, where she was, what she looked like, what she smelled like, if she was a  _ she, _ even. He hoped one day he could find the recipient of that mark and properly apologize to her for the doom his full demon had brought down on her.

After an hour of scouring his apartment for literally anything, it was clear that the asshole had left him nothing. Inuyasha walked to his bedroom, pulled the covers over his head, curled himself up in a ball, and stared blankly at his left wrist.

“Fuck.” Inuyasha looked down at the mark, which smirked back up at him. “What am I going to do…”


	3. A Memorable Tattoo

Mornings after double-shifts were always the mornings Kagome hated the most. The blaring of her alarm clock had not only roused her from a pleasant sleep, but also from a pleasant  _ dream _ . Long silver hair crested with triangular ears coursed through Kagome’s subconscious, and their activities had  _ not ended _ at the bite.

“Fuck.” she growled as she tried in vain to silence the cheerful bleat of her phone’s alarm app.

Had she really made out with a stranger yesterday? The hint of cigarette that still lingered on her tongue told her yes, indeed she  _ had _ made out with a silver-haired stranger the previous day.

_ Inuyasha, he said his name was Inuyasha _ , Kagome reminded herself, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She had half a mind to roll back over and see if she could find her way back to that dream, the dream where she  _ did _ let him into her house and he bent her over a table and…

But Kagome needed to get up. She’d signed up to take Jinenji’s shift that morning, and needed to get on her feet soon if she hoped to have a shower.

Had she even brushed her teeth the night before?  
How out of it had she been?  
She remembered him, his hands on her, his  _ tongue _ on her.  
She remembered walking into her apartment, grabbing a bottle of wine and…  
That was why the alarm sounded so intense. Because the bottle of wine was now gone.

“FUCK.” Kagome rolled out of bed, ambling into the bathroom and starting the shower. She popped two ibuprofens into her mouth and swallowed them down with a swish of water from the sink. Today was going to be a really long day.

Kagome let her pajamas fall to the floor and stumbled face-first into the shower. The water felt great on her skin, burning it as she went. It was making the hangover a bit more bearable. As Kagome lathered, she saw something strange on her left wrist.

_ Right. That motherfucker bit me, _ she grumbled, looking at the strangely shaped bruise that had formed there. The purpled spheres made sense, they were indentations from his teeth. The fang-like white ones on the edge were more of a mystery, and she’d never seen a bruise that had a pearlescent sheen before, but the man had bitten her and it… felt good… the bite. In fact, in her dream, even as he was doing other delectable things to her, his teeth found their way to her flesh. As if her soul was asking for more of that stranger’s bites.

Apparently Kagome had a fang fetish.  
Or maybe the fetish was more specific, maybe it was a silver-haired potty-mouthed asshole fanged stranger named Inuyasha fetish.

When Kagome touched the bruise, she was surprised to feel a sensation of pleasure thrum through her. It didn’t  _ feel _ like any bruise she’d ever had either.

_ Apparently I’m now a masochist too, _ Kagome mused.

She looked one more time at the bruise, and let a grin come to her face at the thought of Inuyasha. She didn’t have time for what she  _ wanted _ to do in that shower, but she could at least close her eyes and picture him in there with her while she lathered up and rinsed herself off. It was unlikely she would ever see him again, but goddamn if he didn’t leave her with some rather pleasant memories.

Kagome stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. She brushed the last cigarette taste out of her mouth and exhaled, relieved that between the shower and the ibuprofen, she’d managed to stave off the hangover that wanted to find her.

It was going to be a long day, but at least the day was not going to start off with her head wanting to split open down the middle.

Kagome threw on her scrubs and crocs and hiked out the door. She’d left just enough time to grab a coffee and croissant at Starbucks before hopping on the A train into Manhattan. The line for coffee was always short this far out, and she’d learned as long as she didn’t actively eat it on the ride, most people didn’t give her grief.

As soon as Kagome boarded the train, she sat down and threw her headphones in. She’d downloaded a murder mystery podcast and was nearly to the big reveal—just distracting enough not to pay attention to the sounds of the moving subway, just low level enough that if someone were doing something strange, she could react. Without making it obvious, Kagome looked around for any hint of silver hair.

_ He probably wasn’t from Far Rockaway, _ she inwardly sighed. How he had been on that train with her that late at night? How many stops had he missed to see her home?

Why the hell was she still thinking about this guy?

_ You know why _ , Kagome groaned.

Because that cocky bastard was so hot he’d managed to burrow into her subconscious and take root. As if now that she’d met Inuyasha, she’d never forget him. Kagome wanted to punch him. Again. Hard.

Kagome’s stop came faster than she was expecting, and she struggled to make it off the train before it continued on its path. As she ascended the stairs, the bustle of Manhattan hit her. Triangular ears distracted her, but it was not a dog-eared demon; it was not even humanoid. It was an Akita, being walked by a harried-looking dog-walker.

Kagome needed to get a hold of herself.

Only blocks away from work, she propelled herself forward toward the hospital. She liked the morning shifts, because Dr. Mukotsu was usually not there, and, as of this morning, she was happy to see that Dr. Suikotsu was the one on-call. That was usually a good omen. Dr. Suikotsu was a good and competent doctor, as long as you didn’t get on his bad side.

Kagome clocked in, and headed to the front desk to get her list of patients for the day. Shiori, a half-demon with luminous blue hair and violet eyes, was the receptionist on-duty.

“Hello beautiful,” Kagome grinned, “Anything I need to know before I start my rounds?”

“Nothing unusual,” Shiori returned Kagome’s grin, “I think 13B needs his bandages changed if you want to know where to start.”

“Thanks doll!” Kagome called back grabbing 13B’s chart.

She missed the shocked look on Shiori’s face upon seeing her ‘bruise’.

Kagome checked her patients’ charts, made sure their medications were arriving on time, chatted with Dr. Suikotsu about 13B, and made small talk with the patients. It was a pleasant morning, though when lunchtime rolled around, Kagome was ready.

_ Crap. I forgot to pack a lunch _ . Kagome grumbled as she headed to her locker. Her mind really hadn’t been where it needed to be when she woke up. So she sighed, picked up her purse, and headed down to the cafeteria. She grabbed a turkey baguette and a cup of yogurt, and settled herself at the corner table (the table everyone recognized was for hospital staff.)

“Well, today must be my lucky day!” the smooth voice caught Kagome’s attention, “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all,” Kagome said through a bite of sandwich, “How goes the spirit world?”

Miroku was the hospital’s chaplain. New York Presbyterian was one of the few hospitals in the city that was equipped to handle demon ailments as well as human ones, so Miroku was a specialized chaplain. He was a buddhist monk, capable of calling upon his religious powers if one of the patients found themselves afflicted by curses. It made Kagome’s job, and the hospital, more interesting.

“Same old, same old,” Miroku replied, taking the seat across from Kagome, “No curses for the last month. I would’ve thought I’d get at least  _ something _ interesting on full moon night.”

Kagome nodded, though her personal opinion was the fewer people afflicted by curses, the better. She once had a cursed person try to shed whatever demon was possessing him by licking her. That was not a good day.

“Can we make this pair a threesome?” a musical voice hit both Kagome’s and Miroku’s ears, as Kagome laughed, Miroku scowled.

“There’s always room for you Jakotsu,” Kagome chirped back, as amused by the shudder that Miroku let out as the wide grin that appeared on Jakotsu’s face.

Jakotsu slid elegantly into his seat, across from Kagome and next to Miroku. As always, the man was immaculately dressed. Where Miroku chose comfort, Jakotsu chose style. Miroku wore loose-fitting shirts and pants, with a set of sutra beads around his neck. Jakotsu on the other hand was in a brightly colored form-fitting t-shirt fashioned after the primary colors and shapes of a Mondrian painting. He wore black slacks that hugged every curve of his legs and butt, and they seemed to have a silver glimmer to them. Miroku and Jakotsu were about the same height, and both had dark hair. Miroku’s hair was long, and usually pulled back in a low ponytail. Jakotsu’s hair was… probably long? But he wore it up in a pompadour, so it was hard to tell. On that day, Jakotsu had worn some sheer lip gloss, making his full lips even fuller.

“So… what’s the tea?” Jakotsu leaned close to Miroku, which caused the monk to scootch his chair away a bit.

Kagome wasn’t going to say anything, but the vision of purple stripes and silver hair and that cocky fucking grin crossed her vision. Jakotsu noticed.

“Ka-go-me doll, even if you try to hide it, I saw that look of thirst,” Jakotsu purred. Kagome’s resulting blush didn’t help matters.

“It was… nothing,” Kagome ran her fingers through her hair, trying to buy time to figure out exactly how one describes the time a demon on the train pissed her off, walked her home, told her to punch him, made out with her, bit her, then went on his way.

Before she could make another move, Miroku grabbed her wrist.

“What is  _ that _ ?” Miroku jabbed at the bruise. It felt weirdly good again when he touched it.

“Yeah… so… that’s the bruise from where a demon… bit me yesterday,” Kagome mumbled. They’d caught her too off-guard to think of a good lie.

“Holy shit ‘Gome,” Miroku’s look turned grave, “I hoped it was some weird drunk tattoo you got at a demon tattoo parlor. Because, that’s not a bruise.”

“Wha-what is it?” Kagome looked down at the little marking on her wrist.

“I think… I need more information. A demon bit you yesterday?” Jakotsu interjected, leaning forward and staring at Kagome’s wrist.

“Yeah? He walked me home and we… sort of… made out… and then he… bit me.” Kagome needed to work on her lying skills, because with every word she said, Jakotsu looked more delighted and Miroku looked more horrified.

“Kagome,” Miroku pierced her with his indigo eyes; he looked genuinely concerned. “That’s a mating mark.”

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/626172854408527872/happy-tuesday-everyone-here-is-jakotsu-kagome)

Artwork by [i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/)

* * *

“What the FUCK?” Kagome and Jakotsu shouted it at the same time, but one sounded horrified and the other sounded delirious.

“There’s no way Miroku. Yeah, okay, we flirted. He was funny, but he was also an asshole.” Kagome explained, “But, he only walked me home and we only kissed. It’s not like I had sex or… fuck I don’t even know his last name. How the fuck did he  _ mark _ me? Isn’t that lifelong demons-only-get-to-do-it-once-ever sort of thing?”

“Yeah,” Miroku sighed, “But Kagome, it’s deeper than that. It’s a  _ soul _ bond.”

“I don’t understand,” Kagome was reeling, “He’s not even the first demon who’s bitten me.”

“Bite fetish Higurashi?” Jakotsu squealed.

“You’re not helping.” Miroku and Kagome shouted it at the same time, but that did not wipe the glee off of Jakotsu’s face.

“That’s the thing,” Miroku said, “A mating mark doesn’t exactly take unless… well, unless your  _ souls _ accept each other. No ordinary person could give you that mark Kagome. Only your soulmate could.”

“No. No.” Kagome was not hearing this right, “No NO NO No no NO no NO that’s not possible. He was an asshole, and worse, he was a  _ smoker. _ ”

“Assholes are great in bed,” Jakotsu said sagely, “And smokers can be cured with the right  _ incentives. _ ”

“Well, he also appears to be your soulmate,” Miroku sighed, “At least, that’s what that mark is saying.”

“What did he look like beebee?” Jakotsu had leaned his chin against his hand, and looked dreamily at Kagome.

“Uhm. Long silver hair. Pointy dog ears. Red eyes with bright blue pupils. He had a stripe on his cheek—purple,” it was not helping Kagome’s insides to be picturing Inuyasha right now, “Stripes also on his abs…”

“I thought you said he only got to first base,” Jakotsu huffed, then collected himself, “Carry on…”

“Cocky grin. That’s what I remember most, just those fangs… hanging out of his mouth as he smiled, it pissed me off,” Kagome reminisced.

“How exactly did you find yourself in a position to… be… bitten?” Miroku asked.

“I  _ told you _ , he... walked me home,” Kagome shrugged, “It was last night after my double… and… he was smoking on the train and I told him to fuck off.”

How was this so hard for Miroku to comprehend?

“Fuck off can be great foreplay,” Jakotsu continued his unhelpful comments, “What was this demon hottie’s name anyway?”

“All he said was Inuyasha… Oh! He said he was a boxing coach.” Kagome said.

“Red eyes, silver hair, dog ears… Inuyasha, boxing coach,” Jakotsu pulled out his phone and immediately started typing, “Okay, that’s disappointing.”

“What?” Miroku asked.

“121,235 results for Inuyasha. Damn ‘Feudal Fairy Tale’ getting adapted by HBO, apparently  _ everyone _ is naming their baby Inuyasha now,” Jakotsu sighed, “And I’m not going through the images, too many ugly babies in this world for me to subject myself to more.”

Jakotsu kept typing, “Boxing coach Inuyasha demon… nope, apparently there are thousands of Inuyashas and zero boxing coaches named Inuyasha. Maybe he’s a coach in a Fight Club sorta thing?”

“Well, whoever Inuyasha is, apparently he’s a mate your soul accepted,” Miroku patted Kagome on the shoulder. “I don’t think that has any impact on your ability to date humans, but… demons are out of the question. And, well… humans you should probably just call it a demon tattoo.”

Kagome growled. This fucking guy she barely knew had bitten her. Not only that, apparently her own fucking soul had decided that sounded great and bonded itself to him. Not only  _ that, _ but now apparently she was cut off from the entire demon side of the dating pool, because she was  _ marked _ as belonging to  _ him _ . To that fucking asshole smoker Inuyasha. Who kissed her better than she’d been kissed before even with his dank cigarette breath and cocky grin. Who bit her and it felt so fucking good she jept daydreaming about his fangs. He left a goddamn mark on her that felt good when she touched it. Then walked the hell away last night... because she told him to.

“Hey, is Mukotsu a demon?”   
Maybe there was a bright side.

“I don’t think so,” Jakotsu answered, “But he’s ugly enough to be one. Probably some sort of hybrid toad-rat demon.”

“He really didn’t leave anything else for you to find him?” Miroku asked.

“Nope. Apparently he bit me, then left.” Kagome’s rage had finally started to subside, leaving frustration and… longing?

“Perhaps he didn’t know it’d take,” Miroku shrugged, “As you say, demons bite all the time and don’t  _ mark _ the people they bite. Hell, so do humans. It’s the easiest way to find out if you are soulmates.”

“Welp, looks like I am just lucky,” Kagome deadpanned, “I let a guy I met on the subway walk me home and he claims me for all eternity. I need to punch something.”

“Well babe, I wish we could help more,” Jakotsu got up, patting Kagome on the shoulder, “If you ever find this guy, I want to meet him. He sounds hot.”

“You’re not helping.” Kagome grumbled.

“Wasn’t trying to,” Jakotsu blew her a kiss, “Thanks for making this the most entertaining lunch I’ve had this week.”

“Let me know if you need anything,” Miroku gave Kagome a sympathetic smile. “I am a chaplain for a reason you know… in case you need to mourn.”

Kagome grunted at him. It really wasn’t funny.

Miroku then also stood up, gave Kagome’s shoulder a sympathetic squeeze, and followed Jakotsu out of the lunch room. Kagome just stared down at the little tattoo staring back up at her. She could swear that the thing was grinning with that same cocky grin. Inuyasha had marked her. And her soul had decided ‘sure sounds great! Let’s bond for eternity!’ without her consent. She contemplated how hard it would be to murder her own soul, but knew that was not going to happen. She’d have to settle for the other option.

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Kagome growled.   
That is, if she ever saw Inuyasha again.


	4. Howl at the Moon

Kagome listened to the rumbling of the A train on her way home. She was not in the mood to talk to  _ anyone _ . Not after the fucking day she had. It was becoming a theme. Morning, coffee, run away from Mukotsu before his hands got to wandering, avoid Miroku at all costs because she was getting  _ sick _ of telling him that no, she had not seen her fucking soulmate again since he  _ marked her _ and getting the stupid “everything will be okay” thumbs up from the man. Jakotsu was  _ almost _ tolerable. He had become a one-man detective agency, scrolling through the “sea of ugly baby pictures” (his words) to find the fucking asshole Inuyasha who apparently marked and ran. That her soul picked  _ that guy _ just made her want to punch things.

Her soul was a cunt.

Maybe her mood was why she did not notice when the figure with sunken eyes and blackened teeth took the seat across from her. Perhaps that was also why it was not until there were actual sounds coming from the figure across from her, that it dawned on her that the sick fuck had his hands down his pants and that he was staring at her as he  _ went about his business _ .

Before Kagome could do more than tense, an arm laced around her. She thought of screaming, thinking that the sick fuck had some accomplice that was about to kidnap her.

“Take your sausage strokin’ somewhere else buddy,” a voice rasped, a  _ familiar _ voice, “Before I cut it off.”

She  _ knew _ who her savior was. And apparently, given how fast the little pervert scurried away, the sick fuck understood he was not one to be messed with.

“Miss me kitten?” she could  _ feel _ his cocky grin. She wanted to look at him, but she also did not want to give him the satisfaction.

“You  _ asshole! _ ” Kagome growled, balling her hand into the fist like he taught her and aiming for his thigh. She’d been tempted to aim a little differently, but… well… she was a lady.

“FUCK that hurt,” Inuyasha yelped in reaction, “Kitten when did you get so—”

“What the fuck is  _ this _ ,” Kagome did not let him finish his sentence, thrusting her left wrist into his face, “What sort of dickweed motherfucker meets a girl, walks her home then  _ fucking marks her as his soulmate and disappears for a fucking month? _ ”

Kagome wouldn’t admit that the thing that pissed her off the most was… the disappearing for a month. Every flash of silver, every red leather jacket, purple on someone’s face… had taken her attention hostage. She was always looking—searching—for  _ him _ . It was… exhausting. And ‘Inuyasha’ typed into Google had been of no help. Apparently  _ this _ Inuyasha only existed at night on a fucking subway train, because he did not seem to exist anywhere else.

“There were some extenuatin’—” Inuyasha started to talk, but Kagome cut him off again.

“You  _ mate marked me, _ ” Kagome wanted to punch him again. Maybe this time she would land her fist where she’d only thought about hitting him the last time.

“How about this,” Inuyasha very gently wrapped his clawed hand around her wrist, which was still thrust within three inches of his face, “We go somewhere private to talk. I give you full permission to kick my ass to the moon, and we have it out.”

Kagome answered by growling, but she let Inuyasha return her hand to her lap.

“Fine.” Kagome folded her arms, but  _ fuck _ did it feel good to feel his heat pressed up against her again, “We can go to my place… but. I get to use weapons. If I want.”

“Plannin’ on murderin’ me?” Inuyasha chuckled. Kagome wanted to punch him in the teeth. She also wanted to kiss him. It was very confusing.

“Depends on how well you answer my questions,” Kagome replied.

“I aim to entertain,” Inuyasha’s cocky grin stayed stuck on his fucking face. His fucking gorgeous face.

It was then that Kagome noticed something. Well, actually, an  _ absence  _ of something. She poked Inuyasha’s lip.

“Where’s the cancer stick?” Kagome mocked.

“I found a better vice,” Inuyasha smirked, lifting his own left arm to reveal his wrist.

There, as a mirror to hers was the little grinning mating mark. It had the same pearlescent sheen to it, the same violet beads surrounded by two pearly fangs. It looked so much like the damn grin he wore on his face Kagome scowled.

“Not. funny.” Kagome said it seriously.

Their back-and-forth was fun. It  _ did _ things to her. And she appreciated that he didn’t smell like cigarettes. But… he  _ marked _ her. For  _ eternity _ . Off limits to demons. And… was she now going to be living as long as a demon? Was he some magical super demon who could mark all the playmates he wanted and now she was part of some harem? Was she the ‘full moon’ slattern, only getting to see her soulmate one night a month?

She was getting ridiculous.

“Did you know..?” Kagome asked tentatively, “That… well…  _ this? _ ”

“Fuck no,” Inuyasha admitted, “You think I’d go and do that to someone without asking first?”

“Well… seeing as  _ you did exactly that _ ,” Kagome growled, still looking down at their matching marks.

“I… like to bite.” Inuyasha shrugged.

“No  _ shit _ ,” Kagome agreed.

“Seriously kitten, if I knew that fun little game we were playin’ would… would tie us together, shit man,” Inuyasha almost looked… sorry, “I still woulda chased ya but I woulda been a gentleman about it.”

Kagome let out a laugh. Cocky demon that he was, Kagome believed him. And… well… it wasn’t like she was a bite virgin herself. Demons  _ and humans _ liked to bite during… fun times. And, Kagome had never said no to being bitten during fun times. Well, or biting...

“Our souls are assholes,” Kagome grumbled, “Though… that doesn’t explain the disappearing…”

“Long story kitten,” Inuyasha answered, “Now… if I am not mistaken, this train’s about to get to your stop and you’re about to interrogate me with weapons.”

“You sound entirely too excited about that,” Kagome rolled her eyes, “Come on. Apparently we’re soulmates now. Might as well … try to get to know each other.”

“Who knows, it might be fun…” Inuyasha grinned.

Fuck he was sexy. It didn’t help that every time Kagome touched the mark on her wrist, it did  _ pleasant _ things to her insides. Inuyasha’s disappearance had also done one thing very effectively: he’d become a fixture in her fantasies, both inside and  _ outside _ her dreams. There were times over the past month she’d taken a nice long bath, then let the water run down her body and just rubbed the mark. It had been… a revelation.

“You’re thinkin’ about something real nice kitten,” Inuyasha broke Kagome from her thoughts.

“Oh, so I suppose without the cancer stick, that nose of yours—”

“It ain’t just for decoration, if that’s what you’re implyin’” Inuyasha replied, tapping his clawed finger against it.

Kagome wasn’t sure if she was furious or excited that she’d been busted by his nose. A little of both.

“Maybe you should tell me what you’re thinkin’ about,” Inuyasha purred, “Who knows, it might help you figure out what we  _ should _ be doin’ about bein’ soulmates.”

“Murdering you still feels like the most appealing option.” Kagome retorted, but she couldn’t help but smile as Inuyasha barked out a laugh. Fuck. She was in trouble.

When they made it to her door, Kagome paused. It wasn’t like last time. It wasn’t the last subway home. It was twilight, and she wasn’t bone tired. Inuyasha wasn’t a mystery stranger walking her home in the light of the full moon (though… honestly, he was still quite the stranger…)

“So… if I changed my name to Kagome in the past month, would I make it through the door?” Inuyasha asked, a glint of hope in his red eyes.

“All my murdering weapons are inside,” Kagome sighed dramatically, “I suppose that means I should let you in…”

Inuyasha didn’t say a word so much as smiled, letting Kagome open her door.

_ Fuck I didn’t know I would have visitors, _ Kagome looked around and saw that… she’d been a little lax on her cleaning up. Her apartment was not a healthcode violation, but it was clear that it had been  _ lived in. _ She turned around to find herself only inches from Inuyasha. His chest rose and fell with his breaths as he took her living quarters in, then finally, their eyes met each other. The intensity of Inuyasha’s cyan irises put Kagome into a trance, and all she wanted to do was lean into him and kiss his lips. He smelled…  _ great _ ; like sandalwood and leather.

Before she could make a mistake, Kagome turned away from him, and fast-walked into the kitchen.

“I need food. Want something?” Kagome wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“I have a couple of ideas for what I want as a  _ meal _ ,” Inuyasha replied, sending delectable little shudders down Kagome’s spine.

“Let’s try that again. Food. The type that comes out of the refrigerator and takes things like stoves and knives to make,” Kagome jabbed, but she was having fun.

“Sure. Though also depends on dessert,” Inuyasha was not relenting, and  _ fuck _ if him licking his lips was not making it harder for her to concentrate.

“Knives are also good for murdering,” Kagome smirked, “Keep it up…”

Inuyasha crossed the distance to Kagome, stopping just short of touching her.

“We’re playin’ a fun game. Makes me glad I bit ya,” Inuyasha didn’t move forward, but he also didn’t move back, “But I ain’t gonna pretend that the moment I saw ya I didn’t want ya. That right now… I can’t stop thinkin’ about fuckin’ ya.”

Kagome saw so much sincerity in his eyes she didn’t push him away. She… wanted that too. A lot. Too much probably, given the circumstances. Fate had fucked them, was it really a problem if they also fucked each other?

“Food first,” Kagome put her hand on Inuyasha’s chest, “Then interrogation. Then…”

“Then…” Inuyasha’s eyes widened, and his grin became so large his fangs stuck out of his mouth.

“Food.” Kagome put a finger on his grinning lips, “I don’t  _ interrogate _ on an empty stomach.”

“How about we switch the order  _ kitten, _ ” Inuyasha took her hand into his, and kissed her fingers, “Food, then… whatever it was you were thinkin’ that made you smell so damn delicious, then  _ interrogation. _ ”

“F-food,” Kagome tried to counter, but it came out more as a moan than a word, which only encouraged him.

Inuyasha pressed himself against her, and she could feel every muscle in his body. Hers conformed perfectly to his, and she could just imagine what it would feel like when her scrubs were… FUCK. She needed to concentrate. Food. Yes, nice instant ramen. Quick. Satisfying. Salty like sweat she wanted to lick off… FUCK.

Inuyasha seemed egged on by her stupor, lifting her arm just a bit higher, so that her wrist was at the level of his mouth. It had an added side-effect of pulling her even closer to him.

“We could always… work up a nice appetite  _ first _ ,” he purred, then he ran his tongue up her wrist. Her left wrist. Along her mark.

Kagome’s entire body quaked from the sensation that cascaded through her at the pressure of Inuyasha’s tongue. Every nerve thrummed and all she could think about was getting his mouth onto her body as fast as she could.  _ He knows exactly what he is doing. _ Kagome wanted to fight it, she really did, she wanted to push him away and force him to wait. But, his tongue on her skin and hard muscles pressed against her felt so good. Inuyasha gifted her mark one more flick of his tongue which nearly dropped Kagome to her knees.

“Fucking asshole,” Kagome growled, then rammed her mouth into his with such force he stumbled backward, “Bedroom.  _ Now _ .”

If this was the game he wanted to play, she knew how to play it too.

Inuyasha growled, grabbed Kagome around the waist and hoisted her up to him, leaving her with very little doubt that he was excited, and  _ impressive _ .

“Couch is closer,” Inuyasha rasped into her ear as he carried her toward the living room.

“Bedroom.  _ NOW. _ ” Kagome was not going to have sex on her couch. To emphasize her point, she sank her teeth into the delicious flesh at the juncture between Inuyasha’s shoulder and neck.

“Fucking hell  _ kitten, _ ” Inuyasha sounded nearly delirious, “Bedroom it is.”

Kagome smiled, then licked the little teeth marks she’d left on him. Payback for his bite. But only the start of payback. Kagome returned her attention to Inuyasha’s mouth, now using not only her lips, but also her teeth and her tongue to taste and mark him. Inuyasha cursed as he tried to kiss her back  _ and _ navigate the little hallway to her bedroom.

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/626819741210886144/its-tuesday-so-i-give-to-you-some-demon-inu)

Artwork by [@i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/626819741210886144/its-tuesday-so-i-give-to-you-some-demon-inu)

* * *

“Door on the left,” Kagome finally giggled, which Inuyasha unceremoniously kicked open.

At the sight of her bed, Inuyasha put Kagome down. He kissed down her neck, taking a playful nip of his own. The feel of his fangs on her only served to burn Kagome’s fire hotter, and she found herself responding with her own, harder bite. Inuyasha’s breathing grew faster, and he let out a moan.  _ So, he doesn’t just like to bite, he also likes getting bitten, _ Kagome mused. And after the bite he gave her, she figured that she owed him… at least several hundred bites.

But biting was not what Kagome wanted at that moment. She wanted to know what those rippling muscles looked like without all that inconvenient clothing. She wanted to run her tongue along his stripes and see if they felt any different than the rest of his skin. She wanted… to know if he was as impressive under his pants as he was in her fantasies.

Kagome pushed Inuyasha away with such force that he nearly fell backward, but she didn’t care. Not today. Not with this fucking asshole who mate-marked her and did things to her body and… seemed to be enjoying every moment of their play.

“Strip,” Kagome commanded, “I want to watch.”

Inuyasha let out a small chuckle, but then his eyes and voice grew darker, more predatory. And Kagome knew in his mind that she was his prey.

“If I’m gonna be givin’ you a show, I better be gettin’ one in return  _ kitten _ ,” Inuyasha growled deep. So deep that it pierced Kagome’s core, and she could feel it exciting her.

Inuyasha wanted to consume her. And she wanted to be consumed. But she wanted to consume him first.

“Depends on how good the show is,” Kagome backed up, plopped herself onto her bed, and made a show of crossing her legs, “Now  _ strip  _ I-nu-ya-sha.”

Inuyasha continued to glare at her, but he began doing as he was told, first relieving himself of the red leather jacket he was in, dropping it onto the floor. He then slowly pulled the turquoise t-shirt off of his body, revealing his marble-chiseled torso. Kagome let out a little gasp. Inuyasha’s returned grin told her that he’d heard it. Next to go were his boots, then socks. He took his time, never taking his eyes off of Kagome as he did it. Fuck if that man hadn’t just made pulling off one’s shoes sexy. All that was left now were his pants and underwear.

Inuyasha paused, looked down at himself, then with a wild grin stalked toward Kagome until he was inches from her. Kagome only needed to lean forward slightly if she truly wanted to run her tongue across his stripe. She almost did it.  _ Almost. _

“Why don’t you do the honors  _ kitten _ ,” Inuyasha purred, then took Kagome’s hands and pressed them to his fly.

Kagome could feel all of him under those pants, and knew he’d placed her hands  _ right there _ purposely. Kagome had half a mind to refuse and tell him to get on with the show, but… this was also a lot of fun. So instead she unbuttoned his fly, then slowly, teasingly, dragged down the zipper. When she put her hands through the loops of his pants and started pulling them downward, she was met with a… surprise.

Inuyasha’s cock sprang free, causing her to jump. Nearly. Apparently the asshole had gone commando. The surprise just added to the man’s cockiness. He’d wanted to see her reaction, wanted to know if she wanted what he had to offer.

She was half-tempted not to give him the satisfaction.

The problem was, his dick  _ was  _ impressive. The white/silver hair that sat atop his groin was well manicured, and Kagome mused at the fact that the carpet matched the drapes. While not pornographic, his girth made her salivate. If things continued how it was looking they would, Kagome was going to be having a  _ very enjoyable _ night.

“Like what you see  _ kitten _ ?” Inuyasha’s rasp drew Kagome’s gaze away from his hard-on and back to his face, which of  _ course _ carried his signature grin.

“Doesn’t that zipper chafe?” Kagome countered.

Inuyasha threw his head back in a roaring laugh. The fact that his laughter seemed to vibrate through all the perfectly sculpted muscles on his body was not doing her any favors.

“Fuck Kagome,” Inuyasha caught his breath, “I thought fuckin’ ya was gonna be the best thing about tonight. But  _ shit _ , that mouth o’ yours...”

_ Fuck. _ She wanted him so bad. She wanted him to fuck her so hard she blacked out. She wanted that cock put in all sorts of delicious places on her body. But here he was, laughing at her joke. Her soul… had better taste than she thought.

“I can think of something to do with this mouth o’ mine,” Kagome grinned, and leaned forward.

Inuyasha’s eyes widened as she leaned ever closer… closer… When Kagome was just inches from his dick, she quickly grabbed his left hand and ran her tongue up the mark he had there. She thought it was a cute little feint, but… the sounds he made when she did it told her that if she was trying to tease him, she would’ve been better off just licking his cock.

“F-FUCK,” Inuyasha moaned, “ _ Shit _ fuck. Kagome… FUCK.”

At least Inuyasha now seemed to understand what he’d done to her back in the kitchen. He pulled his arm away from her, then ran his claws through her hair, an inscrutable look in his exotic eyes.

“Okay woman, for the time bein’ keep your tongue off my arm,” Inuyasha cackled, “Plus… I still want  _ my _ show.”

Kagome’s lips curled into a smirk. So he wanted a show… well, she could give him one. But, he had to earn it. Her scrubs? Not the greatest clothes to striptease in (and her underwear was very utilitarian), but she’d make do. This asshole needed to whine to get what he wanted.

“Sit boy,” Kagome commanded, standing up and backing away from her bed, “And… no touching. Not me, not yourself.”

Kagome was gifted with the first whine from the hot demon’s lips. She certainly hoped that there were more where that came from.

“Now… what do you want me to take off first, I-nu-ya-sha?” Kagome let her hands wander down her body, lifting her scrubs just slightly and caressing her stomach.

She watched Inuyasha’s Adam’s apple bob up then down his throat as he swallowed. He looked utterly entranced, utterly predatory, but also utterly helpless.

Kagome fucking  _ loved _ it.

“Shirt.” Inuyasha leaned back on his elbows, leaving his very prominent erection on display, for her.

“Say please,” Kagome teased.

Inuyasha let out a little snarl, probably meant to let her know that she was pressing her luck, but she didn’t give a damn. She wanted to see if he could hold himself back. She wanted to see just how much control he had. She wanted to hear him  _ whine  _ in need of her.

“ _ Please _ kitten,” Inuyasha growled, and the sound he created hit lapped at her insides, making her hotter.

Kagome slowly lifted the green scrub over her head, then tossed it across the room. After it was gone, she teased her breasts a little bit, trailing her fingers over her nipples just enough to harden them.

“What next?” Kagome asked, staring directly into Inuyasha’s red and cyan eyes.

“Your bra  _ please _ ,” Inuyasha growled, again in the tone that managed to intensify her already pleading desire.

Kagome removed one strap, then the other, pushing the bra down just enough that she was spilling out of it (but not yet far enough for him to see nipples). She paused, and looked at him, hoping for a little whine. Instead the sound he made was a guttural growl, as if he were movelessly stalking her, getting ready to devour her whole. It made Kagome’s breath hitch, and made her pussy drip with need. Finally, she unhooked the back of the bra and let it slide off of her. She let her fingers feather the newly revealed skin, shuddering as she made contact with her hardened nipples. It felt fucking incredible.

“Keep doin’ that,” came Inuyasha’s, the deep timbre of his growl continuing to tease her insides.

“You don’t want to see any more?” Kagome purred, but she didn’t stop touching her breasts. It felt too fucking  _ good _ to stop.

And then, there it was, a  _ whine _ . Inuyasha looked to be having a battle with himself. Kagome smiled so widely she bared her own fangs at his conflict.

“What do you want me to do now  _ I-nu-ya-sha _ ?” she asked, hissing as she rubbed her thumb around the pebbled flesh of her nipples.

“F-Fuck woman. Uh…” Inuyasha stuttered, a whine clear and audible with his rasp, “Pants. Yeah. Pants.”

Kagome licked her lips, utterly delighted at watching him come undone. She slowly, teasingly, untied the tie that kept her scrubs on her body, before wiggling out of them. There she was, down to her underwear, which were soaked. Kagome feathered her fingers across the apex of her sex, savoring the wetness therein, that her gentle touches to her body and the glorious naked man who sat on her bed were responsible for. She moaned a little, both from her own pleasure and to reward the eager demon sitting on her bed.

“What next Inuyasha?” Kagome breathed.

She wanted out of her underwear. She wanted to be on the bed enjoying Inuyasha’s body, his tongue, his claws, his  _ cock _ . But… she waited. She could be patient.

She  _ could _ be  _ patient _ .

“Come to me,” Inuyasha commanded, his guttural growl having replaced the whine, “ _ Please. _ ”

_ Fuck it. _ They both wanted the same thing, The teasing was over, it was time to give in to this intense and wonderful dance. So Kagome obliged, slowly, deliberately. He sat stock still, simply following her motions with his eyes. But with every step forward Kagome took, Inuyasha deepened his growl. She could feel it reverberate through her body, coiling her own desire tighter. He hadn’t even touched her yet and she already felt like an overstressed spring.

When she was just inches away, standing over him, Inuyasha stood up, looping his claws through her panties. Inuyasha’s growl had not abated, and the look in his eyes was utterly dangerous. But Kagome didn’t care. If he decided to devour her tonight, she was completely on board. Then in one fluid motion, she heard fabric rip and watched as her panties flew across the room, in tatters. She let out a gasp, but was silenced by the heat of Inuyasha’s lips.

“You fuckin’ tease,” Inuyasha rasped between kisses, “FUCK I have never wanted anyone in my life as much as I want you right now. I am gonna fuck ya Kagome. I hope you’re ready.”

Kagome nodded, and bit Inuyasha’s neck. As he growled, she felt herself be thrown on the bed. Inuyasha was on top of her moments later, pressing his cock into her stomach and kissing, licking, and biting her everywhere he could reach. She moaned every time his fangs made contact with her flesh, her blood singing at the exquisite pain. Was being bitten supposed to feel so good? Kagome was too far gone to care. Everything he did with his mouth, his claws, his hands, his body, felt  _ amazing. _

“Now little kitten, time for me to get a  _ taste _ of ya,” Inuyasha tried to slide down Kagome’s body, but she stopped him, clawing at his mating mark, causing him to grunt.

“No. Fuck me. Fuck me right now,” Kagome commanded a little bit and begged a little bit, “Condom is in the drawer.”

She was fucking ready and she wanted him  _ inside _ her. They could bite and lick and scratch and taste some other time, but right now, she wanted Inuyasha to fuck her.

Inuyasha panted, but he did as he was told. In an Inuyasha-shaped blur, he was off the bed, to her drawer, and suited up. He stalked back to the bed, then looked down at Kagome.

“Turn over,” Inuyasha growled in that deep rumble that  _ did things _ to her, “If you’re so eager for me to fuck ya, I get to do it the way I want.”

“Naughty dog,” Kagome scolded, but she did as she was told, crawling on all fours on her bed, then wiggling her ass. Fuck she was wet.

Inuyasha climbed onto the bed and over her, his chest laying against her back. She could feel his hair tickle her shoulders and his hot breath on her neck. And… she could feel how hard he was, as his cock settled against her ass, parting her glutes. Kagome shuddered at all the sensations of him, and wondered if her arousal was running down her legs, or if that was just what it felt like to her.

“Lemme make sure you’re ready,” Inuyasha whispered, playfully nipping at her earlobe.

Inuyasha removed his hand from one of her hips, and she felt him slowly, cloyingly press a finger inside of her. The sensation sent a shudder down Kagome’s body, and she could not hold back a moan. One that Inuyasha exactly mirrored.   
  
“ _ Fuck _ …. y-you’re ready,” Inuyasha rasped.

“Fuck me Inuyasha,” Kagome whispered as Inuyasha’s hand returned to her hips, “ _ Please. _ ”

Inuyasha roared, and in one fluid motion plunged deep inside of her. Kagome’s body exploded with sensations of pleasure. She felt filled, her insides continuing to tighten around him, growing more insistent with every thrust. Inuyasha grunted as he held her hips in place, burying himself as far inside of her as she could take him. She could feel his rumbles vibrate through her body as he claimed her, and felt his mouth and teeth connect with the back of her neck, as if he was holding her prisoner while he had his way.

Inuyasha then leaned himself completely forward, pressing his bare chest into Kagome’s bare back, boxing her in. His arms settled down next to hers, and his hair tickled her as it surrounded them both. Kagome’s body sang in response to everything Inuyasha did. His low, possessive growl lapped at her insides, causing each and every muscle to thrum in response. With each thrust, his cock massaged a button of intense pleasure she didn’t even know she had. It twisted and writhed inside of her, untamed and wild, beckoning her to ever higher heights.

“You like that  _ kitten _ ?” Inuyasha growled into her ear, increasing the intensity of his movements, “You like when I fuck ya?”

“Y-you… a-arrogant...” Kagome moaned, unable to finish her thought. She was already fighting to keep her faculties.

He felt so fucking  _ good _ . Like his body was molded specifically to make her body howl. But… this wouldn’t do. He had too much control right now. FUCK how she wanted to keep going. Keep moaning. Keep relishing in all the ways his little ministrations were teasing her upwards. Instead she shifted, ever so slightly, pleased that her body was as distracting to  _ him _ as his was to  _ her _ . She lifted her left hand and grasped at Inuyasha’s wrist, finding what she was looking for. With her thumb, she stroked his mark.

“F-FUCK,” Inuyasha’s entire body spasmed when her hand made contact, going limp against her. Kagome stroked his mark again, enjoying feeling him spasm once again.

“My turn on top  _ I-nu-ya-sha _ ,” Kagome grinned, stroking the mark one last time, taking Inuyasha’s going limp as his surrender to her request.

Being claimed felt amazing, but  _ fuck _ if it didn’t feel even better hearing her demon soulmate come undone. It was her turn to take what she wanted. Kagome leaned forward and felt Inuyasha separate from her. As she turned her body around, she found he’d already settled himself onto his back, his cock twitching in anticipation of them… continuing.

“I’m waiting,  _ kitten _ ,” Inuyasha shot her that signature grin, but his eyes blazed with barely contained desire.

And who the fuck was she kidding? She needed him back inside her as quickly as possible. Kagome matched his grin and positioned herself over him, grabbing his dick around its base then slowly sinking over it. If she thought he’d hit deep parts of her before, well, she was wrong. Kagome let out a guttural moan at the new sensation, making Inuyasha’s grin wider. Collecting herself, Kagome started rocking her hips, trying to find the exact depth and angle able to massage the little button of pleasure inside of her. Inuyasha seemed content to let her have her way with him, matching her own ministrations, hitting her deeper and more intensely with every thrust. He continued the exquisite little rumble that excited all the nerves in her body, even as he grunted in time with their combined movements. 

As they continued, they found their rhythm, and Kagome looked down at the gorgeous demon underneath her, focusing all of his energy on hitting those wondrous parts inside her body, as the coil of pleasure slowly built up inside her, getting stronger and more insistent. It was a tension she wanted to alleviate so badly she didn’t think she could handle it. She moaned and grunted and cried his name as she ground against him, but she did not relent. And soon, when she thought she could not take it anymore, the tidal wave of release broke over her and her entire body spasmed. Her climax was so intense she howled, unable to form words. For a second, everything went black. When she regained her senses, she was limp, laying against the chest of the man who’d claimed her as his.

It took a moment for Kagome to realize that he was still inside her, still rock hard.

“My turn  _ kitten _ ,” Kagome didn’t even mind the cocky grin on his face as he restarted their revelry, her still lying limp against him.

His thrusts were no longer insistent; they were languid, trying to gently lead her back down from the most intense orgasm she’d ever experienced. Given how sensitive she felt to every and all touches, she appreciated it. She wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to handle the electricity of his cock’s demands for its own release, but… she would handle it. For him.

“You feel  _ fucking amazing _ Kagome,” Inuyasha whispered, his eyes bright and sincere, “I… I’m gonna…”

With a few abrupt thrusts, she heard Inuyasha roar, and felt his cock pulse inside of her, sending spasms through the rest of his muscles. After his climax abated, Inuyasha folded his arms around her, tenderly kissing her lips, her jaw, her cheek, then finally nuzzling himself into her neck.

It took an incredible effort, but the two separated and rolled over to face one another in bed.

“Work up an appetite… huh?” Kagome stared tenderly into Inuyasha’s eyes.

“Fuck yeah,” Inuyasha smirked, but the edge of cockiness was now gone. It was… genuine.

Now that the tension in the room had been… relieved, the fog in Kagome’s brain began to clear. This man, Inuyasha, who came into her life and bit her, then came back into her life and fucked her so thoroughly that she didn’t think she’d ever desire another man… The man with the cocky smile that haunted her dreams and the rippling muscles that looked  _ and felt _ so good. The man with the wit of a late night comic and the mouth of a… late night comic. The man who…

She strained to think of anything else she knew about this Inuyasha. He was a boxing coach, she remembered, and her soulmate, apparently. A man she’d met only twice and she’d let him into her home to fuck her senseless, who she was bound to now.

The man who had disappeared for a fucking month.

What was he doing on the subway train?   
What part of New York did he live in?   
Did he have a girlfriend or  _ a fucking wife _ ? Kids?!   
Jesus, what was his last fucking name?

“Where the fuck were you?” Kagome tried to keep the hurt out of her voice, “Why did you disappear for a month? ”

“Long fucking story,” Inuyasha mumbled, “I… was outta commission ‘til today. And guess what the first thing I did was? Find you.”

“How the hell did you do that anyway? Did you seriously just sit on the fucking train and…  _ hope _ ?” Kagome could feel her voice starting to rise with her temper… and panic.

“I… was on my way to your place and… got lucky,” Inuyasha answered stupidly, “Shit, the exact instant I could go looking for you, I  _ did. _ I couldn’t get to you fucking fast enough Kagome.”

“A month is an asslong time to take to find someone you  _ marked as your fucking soulmate _ ,” Kagome shrieked, knowing there was a lot he was leaving out, “Is there girlfriend or wife you’re hiding me from? A—a fucking  _ family? _ ”

“Fuck no,” Inuyasha almost sounded hurt, “You know enough about demons to know once we get one of these things, it’s over. We’re done. So… even if I had a wife—which I  _ don’t _ —I only have eyes for you. Forever.”

“Still doesn’t explain the missing fucking month,” Kagome grumbled.

“Kagome,” Inuyasha pleaded, “You’re  _ it _ and I am fucking over the moon about it. And when I say there is some real shit that I have to deal with to make it— _ us _ —work, I mean it.”

“Are you a fucking werewolf?” Kagome had failed at keeping her voice from getting hysterical.

Inuyasha’s caginess on everything was not only making her angry, it was making her insane. Plus, she wasn’t ready to let herself feel anything except the anger, because feeling the hurt would undo her.

“Surprisingly close to the mark,” Inuyasha had the gall to  _ chuckle _ , “But, now that I found ya, I’m gonna fix the shit I need to fix. We’re soulmates kitten, and I’m fucking happy about it.”

“Can you… at least leave your contact information?” Kagome begged, and the look of sad desperation on Inuyasha’s face nearly pierced through the barrier she’d erected between the anger she let herself express and the pain she was refusing to acknowledge.

“Not yet,” Inuyasha sounded miserable, “But… I can stick around with ya for a bit longer. Until sunrise. And… I will figure out how to unfuck what is fucked. Just… it’s complicated.”

Kagome had heard enough. He’d come into her life and bitten her, then disappeared for a fucking month. Now here he was again, having fucked her thoroughly, confirmed they were soulmates, but apparently she was only good enough for him until fucking  _ sunrise? _ No. Fuck that. No demon, no matter how hot, no man, soulmate or not, was going to get to use her like this. She was worth a whole hell of a lot more, especially when the asshole wouldn’t even tell her his  _ fucking last name. _

“You should go.” Kagome pushed away from him.

“Kagome…” Inuyasha pleaded.

“You can come back when you can tell me your  _ goddamned last name Inuyasha _ ,” Kagome snarled, then pointed at the door, “Get the fuck out.”

That was the end of the discussion for her. She didn’t care that the night was young and if he made her feel like  _ that _ the first time, it’d only get  _ better _ from there. She didn’t care that he was her soulmate. She was  _ not here _ for a fucking blue moon encounter with a man who couldn’t even offer her a phone number. 

Inuyasha let out a whine, but he rolled himself off her bed and slowly dressed. Before he left, he bent over her and gave the gentlest of kisses to her forehead. 

“I’ll be back for you,” Inuyasha whispered, just before turning away, “I promise.”

Kagome rolled over and curled herself into the fetal position, refusing to look at him again. She stayed that way until she heard her front door close.

_ Fucking asshole _ , she thought. The tears that were coming to her eyes were purely coincidental.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also just want to say a giant thank-you to [Fawn_Eyed_Girl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fawn_Eyed_Girl) and [RuddCatha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruddcatha) for helping workshop this beast of a chapter with me.


	5. A Scent Like No Other

Inuyasha didn’t think he’d ever dreaded his full moon night as much as the one after the last. Every moment, the mark on his wrist reminded him of the shit he got into the last full moon. He tried to avoid it; he tried to figure out how to reason with his full demon and bring him back, but it failed, like every other time he’d tried. So Inuyasha tried to imprison himself in his house, in hopes that he could prevent whatever the fuck it was that the asshole planned to do.

But… he knew  _ exactly _ what his demon was planning on doing. At the full moon, his full demon would go after his soulmate. Inuyasha had spent the last month staring at the smiling mark on his wrist, touching it and feeling the bliss that hummed through him at the contact. When he was alone late at night, he thought about her. He wondered what she smelled like, what she might look like, whether she had a nice laugh. He even let himself dream that she would accept him, as he was. But that was folly. He was a fucking bait-and-switch: a worthless half-demon hiding in the disguise of a full demon one fucking night a month. So he wanted to run away, to keep his full demon from finding her again, because what the  _ fuck _ would he do when she woke up and found he was a different person? The prospect of finding her and not remembering any of it terrified him. So he did what he could: he chained himself to his treadmill with a bike lock that his full demon did not know the combination to.

That was probably why his apartment looked the way it did. The asshole had not liked being trapped and had definitely escaped (his destroyed treadmill told him that). But the general disarray of the apartment was the last thing on his mind, because this time, this full moon night, the asshole had not smoked. He’d not eaten kebabs. And he’d not showered.

Inuyasha smelled of sex. And Inuyasha smelled of who he could only conclude was his soulmate.

_ No. No NONONO no. FUCK. _

Before Inuyasha knew what he was doing, he was face-to-face with his shower. He turned it on as hot as it would go. He needed to scrub it away, scrub  _ her _ away.

Just as he was about to step in, he… couldn’t. Because he didn’t want to. She… smelled amazing.  _ Intoxicating. _ Like cherry blossoms and vanilla. There were also hints of ginger laced in her scent that set his nerves ablaze.

**_FUCK._ **

He didn’t know who this woman was, but from a single whiff of her beautiful scent, he knew he was done for.  _ Who the fuck falls in love with a scent of something they did on a night they can’t remember? _ Apparently he did. The mating mark grinning up at him told him so.

The asshole yet again didn’t leave him a single fucking clue as to who she was, except for her scent. He needed to know why. Maybe the asshole figured that she would never accept a half-demon (what a fucking cruel joke that would be—on both of them). Maybe he wanted to keep her to himself. Maybe full demon him didn’t trust half-demon him not to completely fuck it up.

Inuyasha stumbled backward, away from the shower. He couldn’t do it. He needed to smell her on him as long as she would linger there. It reassured him somehow, even in his panic. Inuyasha turned to stare at himself in the mirror.

“What the  _ fuck _ did you do, asshole?” His words weren’t angry like they usually were. They were… desperate. Pleading.

For decades, Inuyasha ignored his blackouts. He ignored the nights in jail for committing petty crimes like trespassing and destruction of property—always misdemeanors (at least the asshole never fucked anyone up). He ignored the weird desire to eat sticks of meat that could only be gotten after the bars closed. He ignored the damage and the bartabs. He ignored the carousel of women he woke up with. It was better that way; it protected him from himself. But, one month ago, when he looked down at his wrist and he saw that mark, he started to ask the question he’d been so afraid to ask for so long: how did he get his full demon back? 

It was time.

He  _ wanted _ to remember.

He wanted to remember what happened when he marked his soulmate. And now, desperately, he wanted to remember making love to her. Two momentous fucking occasions in his life and the asshole got to experience them and he didn’t. He’d tried so hard to convince himself that having his demon separate from himself was for the better, and even not remembering  _ her _ was for the better, because she would never accept someone like him. The asshole was a full demon.  _ He _ assuredly was  _ not _ . People didn’t commit to lifetimes with fucking half-demons. They were the most frequently rejected soulmates after all.

That was why it was better not knowing.

But now, he was surrounded by his soulmate’s scent.  _ Did _ that make the not knowing worse? He had no idea, but it certainly made something clear to him: he  _ had  _ to find a way to reconcile with the full demon—to bring him back. Because he had to know who she was, even if she wouldn’t have him.

_ It was worse not knowing. _

Inuyasha grabbed his phone.

_ Gonna need the day today. Sorry.  
_ The first text he sent to Sango, although she had probably already canceled for him.

_ You got it Yash. Take all the time you need. I reinforced the pad yesterday in case you want to punch something after we close.  
_ Sango always knew how to make a half-demon feel better.

Inuyasha then scrolled through his contacts. He probably should have just bit the bullet and done this after the fucking mating mark, but his stupid ass had convinced himself that it wouldn’t escalate.

_ Do you have time today? I really need your help.  
_ Inuyasha flinched as he hit send on the message, but… he really  _ did _ need help.

_ Everything okay? I’ll clear my lunch for you.  
_ Inuyasha exhaled a breath he didn’t know he was holding when the reply came immediately.

_ No immediate danger. But… you’re the only person I can think of who might be able to help. Let me know a place. I’m buying.  
_ Inuyasha replied.

_ Boathouse? Noon?  
_ Inuyasha sighed in relief seeing the text. It was a place he’d need to dress up a little to go, but he could manage.

He decided that he would try to clean up his apartment while he waited to leave for his lunch date. Maybe it would help take his mind off of everything else… 

As Inuyasha surveyed the damage, something about the apartment felt… strange. The treadmill had been destroyed precisely, the full demon wanting to escape the cage Inuyasha had attempted to put him in. The rest of the apartment, though… was chaos. The contents of a wine bottle was splattered across a wall and the carpet, leaving maroon trails of Merlot and glass in its wake. There was a sprinkling of fluff surrounding the upended couch, from the carcasses of several shredded pillows, and that was only the beginning. It was as if the apartment had been torn apart haphazardly and without purpose. As if… his full demon had come home and… destroyed it in a fit of  _ anger _ .

_ What the fuck did you do, what the fuck did you do _ ? Inuyasha could feel himself panicking. Nothing about the scent of his soulmate made him think that his full demon had…  _ no _ . There was no way. But… what if he did?

Inuyasha wanted to vomit. And for once, it had nothing to do with kebabs or cigarettes.

He had to trust his instincts. He had to trust the scent. There was no fear in the scent his soulmate left on him. No salt, no anger, just… cherry blossoms, vanilla, and that delectable touch of ginger. He pressed his mating mark and shuddered as the bliss rippled through him. No, full demon him never took a woman by force. And he had faith that full demon him would  _ certainly _ not do that to his soulmate.

Over the next couple hours, Inuyasha worked methodically through his apartment. He repaired the coffee maker that had been thrown across the kitchen, collected the dishes and glasses that had been shattered and swept up the glass dust from the floor. In the living room, he righted the television, and groaned as he realized he would need to replace the treadmill. He sewed some of the shredded pillows from the couch carefully and reset them, and righted the houseplants. He scrubbed the floor where his full demon had smashed the bottle of wine, soaking the oxidized cleaner into the carpet. With each exertion, a slight waft of cherry blossoms and vanilla would tickle his nose, leaving him temporarily paralyzed. Finally, after vacuuming, he pulled out a piece of paper and started cataloging what he would need to replace.

In his fury, his full demon had done a couple thousand dollars of damage. It was worse than it had ever been, but… a couple thousand dollars was  _ nothing _ compared to the other thing Inuyasha was missing. The asshole was keeping  _ her _ from him. That was why he finally sent that text message. That was why he was changing into his nice shirt and nice pants and meeting who he was meeting. Because, unless he figured out how to get the asshole back, he didn’t think he would get to see  _ her. _

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/627453698387427328/happy-tuesday-here-is-some-modern-inuyasha)

Artwork by [i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com)

* * *

When Inuyasha walked up to the Boathouse, he already saw who he was meeting. She wore a smart white button-down shirt and black pants. He never did understand her shoes, but could admit that the black pumps with the red bottoms looked excellent on her. Kikyo wore her hair pinned back in a bun, and was holding an iPad. When she saw him approach, she smiled.

“You clean up well,” Kikyo mused.

Inuyasha looked down at himself; he’d thrown on his red button-down and black pants. He hoped it was not apparent he hadn’t showered, but he wanted to smell his soulmate on him as long as her scent deigned to linger.

“Th-thanks,” Inuyasha murmured.

“So… you’re not one to text out of the blue for small talk. What do you need, Inuyasha?” Kikyo leaned on one of her elbows, her brown eyes boring into his amber ones.

Kikyo was the curator of the yōki/reiki wing of the American Museum of Natural History. She was one of the world’s experts on all things demonic and spiritual, and took the job she did because it put her at the forefront of all new discoveries in those realms. Kikyo was not only an encyclopedia of knowledge, she was also an explorer of it, being one of the greatest theoretical minds in understanding the way that yōki and reiki operated in the world. That she was also Inuyasha’s ex-girlfriend was secondary.

Inuyasha had met Kikyo in front of an exhibit dedicated to human/demon couples— _ her _ exhibit. She had approached him, her scent spiked with interest. One date in and Inuyasha realized that she really was attracted to  _ him _ , ears, fangs and all. The sex was good, but… even as Kikyo never made him feel like an abomination, he always felt like an  _ object of fascination _ to her, and that grated on him. When they broke up, they vowed to stay friends, as Inuyasha was not one to turn down the friendship of someone who treated him well, ex-girlfriend or no.

“I… well, maybe I should show you this first.” Inuyasha blushed, then rolled up the sleeve of his left arm.

As more of his skin was revealed, Kikyo’s gaze grew more and more interested. She reached her hands out and took Inuyasha’s forearm, probing the mating mark with her fingers. Inuyasha stifled the shudder that passed though his body when the mark was touched.

“So… you found your soulmate.” Kikyo’s voice was impassive, though scrutinizing.

“Yeah… uhm, that’s why I’m here. Well… not exactly. I  _ have _ a soulmate but…” Inuyasha tripped over every word he said, “I… don’t know who she is.”

“I’m confused.” Kikyo’s eyes narrowed. “Everything I’ve ever read about soulmates is that, well, you’d have to  _ bite _ that person. Then, there is a bit of time before your souls decide to accept one another. Did this… just… appear?”

This, right here, was why he both really liked Kikyo, and why they were so incompatible. Kikyo was a scientist through and through: analytical and intense. He never quite felt like he was on equal ground to her. They were definitely better as friends. He also remembered… biting Kikyo, just… to be sure… back when they were together.

“No. I bit someone.” Inuyasha revealed to her, scratched the back of his head. “I… don’t remember it. That’s why… I need your help.”

“You sure you need me and not a psychiatrist?” Kikyo raised her eyebrow.

“I don’t know yet.” Inuyasha knew she’d made a joke, but he couldn’t laugh. “I never told ya this while we were dating but… I change. Twice a month.”

“I know that,” Kikyo replied, “You’re half-demon. You have a human night and a full demon night.”

“Yeah, well… my full demon night is  _ different _ ,” Inuyasha stuttered, he was miserable, “A long time ago some… shit went down. And… I gave into… to  _ him _ . I hurt people.”

“That’s… not uncommon,” Kikyo said, a softness in her voice.

“Yeah well, I shut him out,” Inuyasha admitted—he was  _ so _ close—“And… now… on the night I transform, I… don’t remember it.”

Inuyasha saw Kikyo start. It was subtle, but he could tell that he had just said something she had not expected. Kikyo narrowed her eyes a bit more.

“You… dissociate?” Kikyo asked, keeping her voice steady.

“Yeah. He… doesn’t usually do really bad stuff.” Inuyasha shrunk into his chair. “But… well… the last two full moons, he… found my soulmate.”

“ _ Inu...yasha _ .” Kikyo’s eyes lost all their shrewdness, and all he could see was pity. For him.

“Yeah. So… I really want to see if you can help me figure out how to… bring him back,” Inuyasha continued, trying to keep the hope out of his voice. “I’ve pretended things are alright for so fuckin’ long, Kikyo. And… they’re not. I know this isn’t normal.”

Kikyo put her hand on Inuyasha’s shoulder reassuringly, then she looked off in the distance, her eyebrows knit in deep concentration.

“I have never heard of anything like that happening to half or part-demons,” Kikyo contemplated. “Unless you go into a true blood rage, you should be lucid. And, if you’re coming home after that time in one piece, it’s clear your full demon self is lucid too.”

“I need to bring him back,” Inuyasha pleaded. “Kikyo,  _ please _ . He took two of the most important memories of my life away from me. I  _ need _ to get him back.”

“I… give me a couple weeks. I want to look into this,” Kikyo answered, having clearly gone into ‘interested scientist’ mode. “I… think you’re the first who can’t remember what occurs during a  _ routine _ transformation. At least that I’ve heard of. And… well, this might be something to ask a psychiatrist, Inuyasha.”

“Seriously?” Inuyasha growled. “My fucking demon goes missing once a month and… you think it’s a  _ human _ problem?”

“There is nothing in my yōki/reiki research where half-demons lose the memories of their transformation night,” Kikyo replied, ignoring Inuyasha’s snarl. “So… maybe instead of being a yōki problem, it’s a brain problem. Humans can get something called dissociative identity disorder. It means they have… different identities living inside them. And, there are times that the main personality cannot recall what the other personalities do.”

“Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde. I follow,” Inuyasha deadpanned. “But, just my demon? The one part of me that is completely inhuman?”

“Demons have brains too, Inuyasha,” Kikyo scolded. “I take it… you are  _ not _ going to visit a psychiatrist about this.”

“Fuck no,” Inuyasha growled again. “Humans already think half-demons are fucking feral. Last thing I need is to see what happens when I tell people I can’t remember what happens when I transform… Shit, I’m scared even telling  _ you _ about this.”

“I’ve studied half-demons a long time, Inuyasha.” Kikyo’s eyes grew soft, filling with some combination of concern and  _ empathy _ . “Full demon transformations that are routine are nothing I’d be afraid of. But…”

“But…” Inuyasha whimpered.

“I’m worried. You have a  _ soulmate _ you don’t remember?” Kikyo pressed.

“Yeah.” Inuyasha nodded, breathing in his soulmate’s still lingering scent. “And… she’s the reason I finally am asking for help. So, if you can, please help me.”

“I will.” Kikyo smiled, then looked at her watch. “I… have to get back. It was  _ good _ to see you and… I really want to help you. We’ll be in touch if I learn anything.”

“Thanks Kikyo, I… I owe you,” Inuyasha blushed.

“Consider talking to a psychiatrist. I’ll ask around. There are some great ones in the city that have experience with demons.” Kikyo stood up, and smoothed her pants, before tilting her head to the side and giving Inuyasha a sad but reassuring smile. “Seriously.”

Inuyasha stood to see her out of the restaurant, and watched as she walked back toward the museum. He could feel his hope receding with her figure. Whatever stupid shit he’d done to get himself into this mess was not going to be fixed by going to a shrink. They would all say the same thing: it was part of a half-demon’s nature. They’d lock him up as high-risk for a fucking blood rage (even though he always wore his suppression charm). They’d categorize him as unfit for employment and tag him like a fucking beast. He’d heard the stories, and he knew it would happen to him, too.

But… when he smelled  _ her _ , he thought… maybe he would call the psychs Kikyo recommended. He wanted to know who his soulmate was, and if that meant having people pry open his brain to stuff the asshole back into place, well, it would be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some absolutely **amazing** fanart by [kalcia](https://kalcia.tumblr.com/) of Inuyasha as he looks at himself in the bathroom, asking "what the _fuck_ did you do, asshole?"
> 
> [ ](https://kalcia.tumblr.com/post/630687688952004608/so-thanks-to-i-dream-of-soup-and-her-art-i-found)
> 
> Artwork by [kalsies](https://kalsies.tumblr.com/)
> 
> * * *


	6. The Soulmate with Two Faces

Kagome was deep in thought. She’d been zoning out a lot the past two weeks. It had taken a massive amount of mental training, but she’d managed to shut out the need to search every place she went for signs of silver hair and triangular ears. The subway ride home after a long day was always the worst, because she knew that was where Inuyasha found her, and she was  _ certain _ that if he wanted to find her again, he would be right there, on that damn train with her.

At least this train ride was  _ into _ Manhattan and  _ into _ work.

‘ _ I’ll be back for you.’ _   
Bullshit.

It was official: Kagome was the full moon slattern. How had someone that cagey marked  _ her _ as his soulmate? Wasn’t the soul bond supposed to be overpowering, driving the souls closer and closer together?

Not understanding why  _ her _ soulmate was a bastard made her insane. What was  _ worse _ was that after fucking a demon like Inuyasha, she knew she was done for. She had half a mind to go out and get really drunk and fuck the ever-living shit out of some frat boy just to see if she could still even  _ enjoy _ sex with someone else. Even the  _ thought  _ of it was so unappetizing, she felt bile rise in the back of her throat. Nope, she was done for. Inuyasha was it… because soulmates were forever.

She’d found out a fuckton about soulmates over the past six weeks. Apparently humans could get them too, but soulmates were rare enough that it was really only discussed for demons, who had centuries to find their mate. At least the biting thing was the same, but  _ humans _ didn’t get giant marks when they bit their soulmates,  _ humans _ simply got a little glowy birthmark where they got bitten. It was  _ discrete _ , not a fucking bright purple wrist tattoo that looked like the cocky smile of a certain asshole demon she regretted not murdering before she fucked him. Looking at that stupid thing grinning at her was driving her bananas. She’d seriously considered buying a Wonder Woman costume and just wearing those damn cuffs all the time. Thankfully Jakotsu stopped her, claiming that it would “look a hot mess.”

So instead, she glared down at her mark and grumbled at it. It helped when she pictured punching Inuyasha in the dick. Or stabbing him—not enough to kill him, just to maim him a little so that he would be forced to explain. She was a nurse after all; she knew how to treat stab wounds on humans, demons, and even part demons.

That’s when she felt it. A tingling down her spine. Like she was being watched. Kagome knew she didn’t technically have eyes in the back of her head, but goddamn if something was not triggering her spidey senses. She needed to find the source of her pricking thumb.

Kagome tried not to make it obvious, using the reflection of the train window to study the people behind her. Most looked like the standard riffraff that rode the A train on weekday mid-days, but… someone caught her eye. Someone with silver hair and amber eyes so intense that Kagome could clearly see their color through the dirty glass of the window she was using as her spying aid. He was wearing a red hoodie, and he sat by himself in a seat about 5 rows away from her.

Kagome caught herself before she did anything rash, like whipping her head around to look at the stranger. Instead, she leaned into the window, trying to look as disinterested as possible. She wanted to watch what he did without giving away that she was watching. This was definitely the stranger who’d triggered her instincts. He looked so very familiar… so much like  _ Inuyasha _ that it was uncanny. His silver bangs looked identical, but there were no stripes on his face, and his eyes were not red and cyan: they were golden. She couldn’t tell with him wearing the hoodie, but if she squinted, she could certainly believe there might be ears up there.

Could this man be related to Inuyasha?

Kagome couldn’t help but get her hopes up. Perhaps this man could help her solve the mystery of the soulmate that only showed up on the night of the full moon. Thinking about him—the last time they saw each other—both pissed her off and turned her on. It was very annoying.

At her wandering thoughts, she could  _ swear _ that the stranger pointed his nose in her direction and…  _ sniffed the air _ . If that wasn’t enough, she watched him close his eyes, as if he was savoring whatever it was he smelled—at the exact same moment she was certain her  _ own _ scent had probably changed (thinking about that molten hot night with her demonic soulmate could… do that.). When he re-opened his eyes, they were definitely on her, and they looked so…  _ sad _ , so…  _ longing _ .

Kagome wracked her brain. She was  _ soulmated.  _ An unknown demon wouldn’t sniff around her, so this guy had to know Inuyasha. But… that didn’t seem to quite cut it. She was missing something. She knew it. Her instincts told her that she needed to talk to this man, who looked so like Inuyasha but not. She wanted to be _ near _ this man, like her soul was tugging her in his direction.

As if he actually  _ was _ Inuyasha.

Was that possible? A demon looking entirely different? No. Demons could change from their humanoid forms to their full demonic forms arbitrarily. But no demon had two humanoid forms.

_ Except. _

There  _ was _ a set of those with demonic heritage that  _ did _ shift between demonic forms:  _ half-demons and part-demons _ . Both were known to transform twice a month, either from sunset to sunrise, or from sunrise to sunset.

What was it that Inuyasha had said? That he could be there  _ until sunrise? _ And both times he saw her  _ it was the night of the full moon. _

It seemed far-fetched. Completely insane. But, well… a demon bit her and became her soulmate, so… far-fetched had a different definition for her. She had to know.

Kagome got out of her seat and casually walked by the mystery man, making sure not to make eye contact.

When she was only a few feet from his seat, Kagome whispered, “ _ Inuyasha _ ”, soft enough that a human would not hear her, but a demon would.

The man jumped at her uttering the name.  _ His name. _ Kagome knew the moment it happened: this man was Inuyasha, her soulmate.

Before he could so much as react, Kagome slid herself into the empty seat next to him, effectively boxing him in.

“So… long time, no see.” Kagome tried to hide that she was both excited to have solved the mystery of her disappearing soulmate  _ and _ pissed at his blasé disappearances. “You look different...  _ Inuyasha _ .”

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/628084167196983296/it-is-tuesday-my-friends-here-is-my-art-for)

Artwork by [i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/)

* * *

“Y-yeah…” Inuyasha mumbled, his eyes darting away from her.

“You  _ are _ Inuyasha, right?” Kagome pressed. “Proud owner of the other half of  _ this _ ?”

Kagome rolled up the sleeve of her jacket and showed the man the little grinning mark on her left arm.

“Uh… you got the wrong person,” he mumbled, but the blush on Inuyasha’s face told a very different story from his words.

“Then show me,” Kagome demanded, pointing to Inuyasha’s left arm.  
She wasn’t wrong. She couldn’t be.

“Th-there’s… nothin’—” Inuyasha stammered, then gaped at her sudden movement toward his arm, “Wh-what the hell are you doin’?”

Kagome shoved up Inuyasha’s left sleeve, searching for what she believed would be there. She knew it was rude, in case she was wrong; but whatever, this was probably the third weirdest thing Inuyasha encountered on the subway  _ that day _ .

Then, there it was: amethyst beads connecting pearlescent fangs. A mark exactly matching her own.

“I  _ knew  _ it!” Kagome beamed. When she looked back at Inuyasha, he—her  _ soulmate _ —was… shrinking away from her. “H-Hold on…” she burst out, “What the  _ fuck _ is going on?”

Kagome couldn’t help her outburst. The  _ gall _ of this guy! He  _ smoked _ on the train, he walked her home, he bit her, then he  _ fucked  _ her and disappeared? Soulmates weren’t supposed to disappear. Was he embarrassed about being a half-demon who just got unlucky enough to meet her on his transformation night? Did he really think so little of her that he thought she’d reject him—her  _ soulmate _ —because people were really stupid and thought less of those with mixed blood? Shit, did he think  _ she _ was one of those people?

Kagome prickled at the thought; she wanted to let him have it, to tell him he must really  _ really _ be an idiot to think that she’d reject him. But, something held her tongue. 

His eyes.

It was not just the color in them that had so dramatically changed; it was the  _ look _ in them. The predator Inuyasha who lived to devour her was not present in this man’s eyes. In fact,  _ this _ Inuyasha looked more like cornered prey, his pupils so dilated his amber irises barely ringed them. It.. unsettled her.

“I-I’m sorry,” Inuyasha stuttered, still pinned against the window, still looking utterly miserable.

“That’s… a good start,” Kagome shot back. “But…  _ why _ ? Why leave me there instead of just asking? Was it so scary that you just decided ‘ _ Hey, I’ll just see my soulmate once a month. Totally cool. Totally fine.’ _ Were you really so scared I was a bigot that you—“

“No, no… it’s not…  _ that _ ,” Inuyasha pleaded, his golden eyes still desperately wide, “I… well… I’m working on—“

“Jesus, the same excuse you used on me two weeks ago?” Kagome scowled, playing back those moments in her bed as a different-but-the-same Inuyasha pulled the exact same bullshit on her, and she was not here for it. “Extenuating circumstances my poor little brain won’t comprehend? Because right now, the most likely possibilities are that you seriously thought I’d hate you because you’re a half-demon or you have a girlfriend on the side and…”

“I don’t—“ Inuyasha interrupted her, a little bit of the fire she remembered igniting in his voice, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Oh, then it  _ is _ because you were hiding the half-demon thing from me,” Kagome countered, hoping she could keep the embers of that little fire in his voice going. “I’m not Prince Charming and you’re not Cinderella, Inuyasha. You can’t just fucking show up when you’re dressed for the ball.” Her voice dropped and grew softer. “I… kinda want to know the whole person my soul bonded me to.”

“Yeah well… you only got me,” Inuyasha growled, curling in even further on himself. 

She suddenly realized: this wasn’t the same banter they’d had before. In place of the tall confident demon who bounced and demanded that she punch him was a meek half-demon who seemed to have trouble finding words to say. In place of the demon who surprised her with his lack of underwear was a half-demon who seemed to be using his clothes to guard his body. In place of the cocky grin and witty banter were downcast eyes and guarded mumbles. Kagome didn’t know what to do. But she couldn’t keep her temper down any longer.

“Then fucking show up!” she snarled. 

The asshole marked her, fucked her, then pulled this bullshit disappearing act? All because he thought she was some sort of asshole who would only accept full blooded demon him? Truth be told, the half-demon Inuyasha in front of her was as hot—no— _ hotter _ —than his full demon. His eyes were more expressive, deeper somehow. The silver hair was still divine, and his claws looked a little bit more manageable. Yet he didn’t lose that god-like body of his and his ears…

His ears were hiding under his hoodie. And she wanted to see if they were the same triangular treasures she liked so much on the  _ other _ him. As the subway came to a stop, Kagome reached out, slowly, tentatively, so she could push down his hood and look at all of him.

Before her hands made contact, Inuyasha had launched himself over her and fled through the closing subway doors. He was out of the train before Kagome could chase after him. Kagome bolted to the window and saw Inuyasha just as the train started moving again. Their eyes made contact, and before she could so much as shout at him, she watched him drop to his knees, looking utterly defeated.

Kagome knew he’d gotten away; there was no fucking chance for her to get back to 23rd St before he was long gone. It sat poorly with her. Shit,  _ everything _ that had just happened sat poorly with her. But, at least one mystery was solved: Inuyasha, her  _ soulmate _ , was a half-demon. And apparently, he had two fucking personalities.

_ Fucking asshole _ , Kagome growled, but she found that it didn’t carry the bite she expected. The utterly defeated man she saw through the window was not an asshole; he was something else, something she needed to figure out.

Kagome stood for the last three stops before she could get off the train, lost in trying to find answers when she didn’t even know the questions she should be asking. When it was finally her turn to exit the train, Kagome willed her feet to move, concentrating on her destination. It was gonna be a long fucking day.

Any time Kagome’s shift started around lunchtime, she came in early. She found that for some reason, lunch breaks brought calamities, so the staff often needed as many hands on deck as was possible. Kagome looked around as she walked in, relieved to see that it looked quiet. It meant she could go grab a quick bagel and coffee before she clocked in,  _ and even better _ , her favorite front-desk receptionist was probably not busy and held answers to some of the questions she had about half-demons.

_ I better buy Shiori a bribe, _ Kagome thought, and picked out a decadent chocolate mocha for her friend. After the cashier rang her up, Kagome fast-walked. If she were lucky, Shiori hadn’t yet taken her lunch break.

“Hello my lovely!” Kagome chirped, drawing a startled look from the violet-eyed receptionist, “I got you this!”

Shiori eyed the mocha, then looked back up at Kagome, scrutinizing, “That is very kind of you. Very very  _ very _ kind.”

“I need to ask you about a million things about half-demons,” Kagome admitted, “Because… apparently I am soulmated to one.”

Shiori’s eyebrows nearly met her hairline as she took in what Kagome had said, then nodded, looked around the corridor, “I think right now is a good time to take my lunch break, don’t you?”

That she and Shiori always seemed to operate on the same wavelength was something Kagome considered a great blessing.

“ _ Yes, _ ” Kagome gasped and followed Shiori to the breakroom, then down into the cafeteria.

As the two got seated across from one another, Shiori leaned on the table, “Tell me everything.”

“I-I don’t even know where to start,” Kagome exhaled, “So… the reason I was only seeing him at the full moon? Full demon night.”

Shiori’s look turned dark, “Is… are you concerned that he’s a half-demon?”

“Jesus, why does everyone think that?” Kagome growled. “No! Of course not.”

“Good. I… just wanted to check.” Shiori’s eyes drifted to the table, and Kagome could see  _ sadness _ in them.

“Shiori… I-I… is it really such a huge problem for people?” Kagome asked softly, putting her hand on her friend’s, “I… I never realized…”

“Yeah.” Shiori didn’t move her hand from Kagome’s, “There aren’t many of us. But… I know of a couple of… acquaintances whose soulmates t-took… took issue with it.”

“Shit…” Kagome had not expected that.

A soul’s acceptance was a big enough deal that people should’ve been able to forget those damn prejudices.

“So. You-you’re not mad that he’s a half-demon?” Shiori looked up hopefully at Kagome.

“Not at all! His being a half-demon is not even on the same planet as the list of reasons I am pissed off at him,” Kagome answered wryly. “The keeping the secret.  _ That’s _ what I’m pissed about. And… the… running away from me today.”

“Who’s running away from who?” a musical voice interrupted the conversation. “Kagome doll, Shiori love, you  _ know _ you can’t huddle in a corner like that without me. It’s not fair.”

“Hiiiii Jakotsu,” Kagome called out to their friend, who was wearing a bright purple haori-style top with white fans trailing around it, his hair in its signature pompadour. “How about this. I get Shiori time now, and I  _ promise _ I will save all the tea for you later.”

“Nope, that doesn’t work for me,” Jakotsu scooted in next to Shiori, who let out a little giggle. “Not only because now I  _ know _ something happened, but also because denying me time with you and Shiori is like denying me air.”

“Drama queen,” Shiori deadpanned.

“Only when the drama is top shelf,” Jakotsu shot back. “Now. Tea time ladies.”

“You’re  _ interrupting _ ,” Kagome grumbled.

“He can stay,” Shiori interjected. “He knows all about… well… the loneliness of half-demons.”

“You  _ know _ I live for our movie nights angelface—no being lonely allowed.” Jakotsu tucked his head on Shiori’s shoulders. “So… wait… you’re talking about half-demons?”

“Apparently Inuyasha is a half-demon,” Kagome shrugged.

Jakotsu’s eyes glimmered with dangerous sparkles. “Holy  _ shit _ sweetie, that is an  _ interesting development. _ ”

Before Kagome could say anything else, Jakotsu was on his phone typing furiously. “Inuyasha  _ half _ demon… Let’s see…”

“More ugly babies?” Kagome asked.

“Nope. Silver-haired dog-eared Adonis, right?” the sparkle in Jakotsu’s eyes had permeated the rest of his face. He clicked on his phone a couple more times before thrusting it into Kagome’s face. “Maybe  _ him _ ?”

Kagome looked at the phone, and there looking back at her was Inuyasha. Not the one from the full moon, the one from that day’s subway ride. Kagome let out a gasp. “That’s  _ him _ .”

“Your boy is named Inuyasha Taisho,” Jakotsu announced proudly. “And… if you don’t want him anymore, you can give him to me.”

“Pervert,” Kagome and Shiori said in unison.

“Only  _ top shelf _ ,” Jakotsu purred, “And Kagome, that hot piece of man meat is  _ top shelf. _ ”

“Go away,” Kagome snarled, stifling the laughter.

“Fine. Have your little girl chat.” Jakotsu got up. “But I’m going full Nancy Drew on this hot man. I’ll text you what I find.”

“You do that,” Kagome called as Jakotsu exited the cafeteria.

“So… Inuyasha Taisho, huh?” Shiori giggled.

“Yeah,” Kagome said. “Shiori, I need to know some stuff. Because… today was  _ weird. _ But, if what I ask is too personal, please let me know.”

“I… I’ll see what I can do,” Shiori whispered back. “Half-demons don’t often find soulmates. Especially ones who accept them. So… I’ll support you however I can.”

Shiori’s admission, especially when paired with the look in her eyes, sent a painful pang through Kagome’s heart.

“When you  _ change _ , does… does your personality also change?” the words poured from Kagome’s mouth.

“Um. Well… yes? But only a little.” Shiori looked like she was forcing herself to answer, “On… full demon night, I-I’m less… inhibited.”

“Ah,” Kagome swallowed, “That’s… that’s not quite…” She tried to find the right words. “It was almost as if Inuyasha didn’t even  _ recognize me _ today.”

“That’s… strange.” Shiori’s eyes became wide. “I mean… when… when it happens… I remember everything. I’m just more likely to do things that I wouldn’t… normally.”

“It’s so weird.” Kagome played back the entire subway ride in her head. “I don’t know how to describe it. On full moon nights he was cocky… and forward… and self-assured. But also cagey as hell. Then… in the train he was… meek. And scared. And seemed to want nothing more than to get away from me as fast as he could.”

“Kagome.” Shiori placed her hand under Kagome’s left wrist, then poked her mark. “ _ No one _ —human  _ or _ demon—would want to run away from the person who they share one of  _ these _ with. There’s something else going on. I don’t know what. But… there is something else going on.”

“Yeah… I know.” Kagome balled her hands into fists. “If… if he would just  _ explain _ what the hell is going on, I’d… I’d be there for him.”

“Sounds like… you need to find him,” Shiori smiled. “And you need to get him to explain.”

A text message from Jakotsu arrived at precisely that moment. Its contents caused both women to burst out laughing and look around to see if he was spying.

_ I found his home address _ 😎  
It was a perfectly timed text.

_ I don’t even want to know what illegal shit you just did. Send it!  
_ Kagome replied back immediately.

_ Tell me what you’ll give me first love. _ 😘  
Kagome shouldn’t have expected anything different from Jakotsu.

_ Starbucks. Every day next week. (I won’t even spit in it) _   
Kagome giggled as she replied. Jakotsu was usually pretty cheap to bribe.

_ Deal. Here are the deets. I also demand an invite to the wedding  _ 😇  
Kagome rolled her eyes at Jakotsu’s insinuation, then quickly jotted down the address that he sent.

In Kagome’s head, it was settled. She now had enough pieces of the puzzle that she was starting to see the big picture. Inuyasha only thought she would accept him as a full demon, and was hiding his true identity from her because he was scared. And with what Shiori had told her about half-demons sometimes being rejected by their  _ soulmates _ , it was no wonder he was scared. So, she would tell him that she was not like that, so he  _ needed to stop running away _ . And she would figure out lots of delectable ways he could make it up to her. And maybe if she talked to him, she could figure out what the hell was going on with that split personality of his...

So tonight, after her shift, she was going to go to Inuyasha’s apartment and demand that he talk to her, soulmate-to-soulmate. The thought of seeing Inuyasha again so soon, Inuyasha  _ Taisho _ , her  _ soulmate _ , sent a tingle of excitement thrumming through her nerves. No longer could he hide from her for a month. He was going to answer her fucking questions. It energized her during her shift, so much so that she actually swatted Mukotsu’s hands away hard enough that he yelped.

_ Serves the bastard right _ , Kagome thought to herself. It was only twenty minutes until she’d be done, until she would find Inuyasha.

At least, that was what she thought.

She heard the sounds of clattering doors and shouts downstairs—she knew what that meant. Someone had just come into the hospital in rough shape. Kagome heard the ‘Trauma 1 Incoming’ called and started jogging toward the ER to serve as an extra set of hands.

“Kagome!” a panicked voice trailed behind her. Kagome wheeled around to see a sheet-white Shiori.

“What is it?” Kagome asked, her voice laced with concern and urgency.

“The code. It’s… it’s for…” Shiori stuttered, “It’s for…  _ Inuyasha Taisho." _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added the tag "Angst with a Happy Ending" very deliberately here. The subway tunnel is going to be rocky for a hot minute, strap in for the ride.
> 
> OMG [kalcia](https://kalcia.tumblr.com/post/638881652589936640/inuyasha-from-neutronstarchild-last-train-to) you cheeky wonderful AMAZING friend. _Thank you so so so much for the art!!! YOU ARE THE BEST!_  
>  (Look at the sad defeated boy! Don't worry Inuyasha, it gets better!)
> 
> [ ](https://kalcia.tumblr.com/post/638881652589936640/inuyasha-from-neutronstarchild-last-train-to)
> 
> Look at what [kalcia](https://kalcia.tumblr.com) made!


	7. It All Comes Crashing Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **CW: Drinking, depression**

He didn’t know her fucking name.

In the subway car, face-to-face with his soulmate—with his  _ beautiful _ soulmate—he fucking ran away before he could even find out her name. As soon as the train doors closed and he saw her eyes—full of confusion and anger—staring back into his, he knew he’d made an insurmountable mistake. He deserved to be miserable for the rest of his fucking life. Cowards didn’t deserve soulmates.

Inuyasha didn’t remember walking back to his apartment. He didn’t hear the text messages on his phone asking him where he was, why he’d skipped the cafe meeting he was heading to without so much as a message of apology. But he couldn’t deal with Kikyo now; he couldn’t deal with  _ anyone. _ He wanted to hear nothing, sense nothing,  _ feel _ nothing. So he pulled out enough bottles of whiskey to make a half-demon go numb to the world, numb to  _ her _ .

She was gorgeous, with long wavy obsidian hair that somehow seemed to reflect all the colors of the rainbow. Her brown eyes sparkled like chocolate opals, full of life and fire. Her lips were full and pink, and pulled him to them whether they were curled in a smile or pursed in a frown. Her skin was creamy and her body was well-muscled. And her scent. The echoes of it that were left on him after his full demon had seen her had not prepared him for the sensation of being so close to her. Inuyasha did not think anything could drown out the smell of the subway, but her cherry blossoms and vanilla (and  _ ginger—fuck _ ) had done it. It sang him the most beautiful song he could ever imagine, and he wanted to be encompassed by that scent for the rest of his life.

The gods could not have designed a more perfect soulmate than that woman. And he biffed it.

Inuyasha popped the top off the first of his bourbons, chugging directly from the bottle. Six weeks ago, his full demon found and marked his soulmate, and he decided to hide from the truth (not like he could fucking do anything; he didn’t know her name and he didn’t know her scent, and walking up to random people asking if they had a matching mating mark to his would get his ass kicked even in New York.) Then two weeks ago, his full demon fucked his soulmate. At least after  _ that _ , after knowing her scent, he’d started to fucking do something about it. Confessing his problem to Kikyo had been scary, and desperate, but not knowing his soulmate? That was worse.

He recalled his slowly building grief as her scent dissipated, until there was nothing he could do to smell it again, left only with its memory. It had taken two days for it to disappear, two days in which he spent thousands of dollars fixing the apartment his full demon had ransacked, two days in which he didn’t shower, trying his damndest to cling to the last keepsake from her.

The moment the scent had completely faded was also the moment he started staying out late into the night, scouring the city, just hoping to find that scent—the scent of  _ her _ —again. It had been a long time since he last wandered the city at night; he was always afraid of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Half-demons often found themselves getting into trouble for just fucking existing. He’d been stopped by police so many fucking times he’d lost count. And he knew one of these days, even when he complied, they’d throw his ass in jail. But…  _ she _ was worth all the risks.

He figured once he found her scent (and goddammit he  _ would _ ), he could just watch her, track her. Get to know her… from a safe distance. He’d find out her name, where she worked, all that stuff. And maybe,  _ hopefully _ , he’d be able to figure out what to do as the full moon once again approached. He would have to come clean, both about  _ what _ he was and about what happened the night he transformed.

_ And then it fucking happened. _

He wasn’t even looking for her. He was sitting on the train on his way to meet Kikyo and… there it was. Cherry blossoms and vanilla.  _ She _ was there, somewhere. He had to use every ounce of his self control not to go sprinting through the train to find her, walking just slow enough not to knock people over. Finally when he found himself in the right car, he  _ knew _ . It wasn’t just her scent either: she stood out from the background. She was more vibrant than even the most colorful characters in the train, haloed in bright light. He thought being this close to her would be enough to gift him flashes of the nights of the full moon, but that was not how things fucking worked. Not for him. He also thought that face-to-face with his soulmate, he would not act like a fucking fool. He had been wrong about that too.

Inuyasha was already halfway through the second bottle of bourbon. It hadn’t started working yet. Not fucking fast enough, that was for certain. Because he still fucking remembered. He remembered her saying his name—fuck it sounded so beautiful on her lips. He remembered the way his nerves ignited when her hands brushed the skin of his arm, pulling up his sleeve and exposing his pitiful lie, the hurt and fire in her eyes as she tried to understand what the fuck was going on with him.

He couldn’t fucking tell her the truth. She was right fucking there and he couldn’t tell her the fucking truth. Instead he let her believe that it was all because he was hiding his being a half-demon from her. And maybe it was a little bit that. Because people didn’t accept fucking  _ half-demons _ as soulmates, especially when they were baited into believing they were soulmates with a pure-blooded demon. That was it, wasn’t it? She  _ caught him _ . An unworthy wretch moonlighting as a decent fucking soulmate.

_ Fuck. _ It wasn’t even just being a half-demon that made him such a fucking failure. Maybe if he’d called one of those fucking shrinks Kikyo had suggested… his head would’ve been screwed on straight again. Maybe if he’d searched harder, sniffed harder, paid more fucking attention to his full demon nights, he could’ve tracked her down sooner and without getting caught off-guard. Maybe if he’d not been such a scared little bitch, keening for her touch like a starving child but being too chickenshit to actually let it happen, he wouldn’t have fucking run. Maybe if he’d had any balls at all, he would’ve handled meeting  _ her _ how he wanted to: with joy that his soulmate was so fucking perfect. Maybe then he would know her fucking name.

His soulmate. Whose arousing scent spiked when she caught him looking at her. His soulmate. Who had fire in her eyes and a wit sharp enough to cut through every shield he had. His soulmate. Who wanted to touch the ears she knew he was hiding under his hoodie. His  _ motherfucking soulmate. _ Who was way more pissed off that he left her hanging for weeks than that he hid being a half-demon.

The soulmate he ran away from. Before he ever found out her fucking name.

At the end of the third bottle, it was finally starting to work. He had no idea how long he’d been sitting at his table remembering, then chasing the memories away with bourbon. Maybe hours? But fucking  _ finally _ the hopelessness retreated, leaving blessed numbness. Finally, he was able to stop thinking. Stop  _ feeling _ . And just drink. He would never forget that subway ride. He would never forget her eyes receding into the distance on the wrong side of the train. He would never forget her scent.

He would  _ never _ forget her scent.

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/628717388609781760/happy-tuesday-enjoy-yourself-some-human)

Artwork by [i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/)

* * *

A strange sensation came over him, and he looked out the window to see the soft light of the sunset. It was as if that numb edge he’d finally found rushed over him. Like he was underwater. Like all his senses shut off with the alcohol. Like… like… he was human.

_ Fuck _ .

He was so caught up in  _ everything _ that he’d completely forgotten what would happen at sunset on that  _ particular _ night. But... it didn’t seem all that big a deal. Sure, he was having trouble focusing his eyes but… for the first fucking time he couldn’t  _ feel _ those shitty human emotions that always plagued him on the night of the new moon. Maybe he should get this drunk on  _ every _ human night. Well, maybe not  _ this _ drunk, since he was pretty sure the room was not supposed to be fading in and out of focus.

Inuyasha attempted to stand up and immediately tumbled back into his seat.  _ Fuck _ was he drunk, and  _ fuck _ was he numb.

Without his emotions, he could finally think  _ clearly _ for once! All the fucking self-doubt and fear that came to the surface when he was a pathetic human was gone, replaced by a confidence that his idea was amazing: perfect, really. And without all those  _ emotions _ getting in the way he knew he wouldn’t stumble over his fucking words anymore when he told her that he was fucking hers. 

_ Yes _ . 

He knew what he had to do. He needed to go back and find his fucking soulmate. He had to find her  _ right now _ . And he had to ask her what her name was and he could confess that his fucking asshole full demon took her from him and that was bullshit.  _ He _ wanted his soulmate. Him. She was for  _ him _ . And he was gonna go fucking find her and ask her to be his.

It took a considerable effort for Inuyasha to stand, but he did it. It was then a bit of effort to get out the door and down the stairs (he only tripped and fell on his ass once), but he was going to find his soulmate. 

_ Right now. _

So he walked out onto the street, breathing the evening air of New York. He couldn’t make out anything, but… it was fine. He would find her. He knew he would. So he put one foot in front of the other. His vision was still fading in and out, but that didn’t fucking matter because those pesky emotions were all gone. He’d be able to find her. He just knew it. And all he had to do was keep putting one foot in front of the other.

He didn’t notice when he walked a bit too close to the curb, or that his usual grace had been gobbled up by the bourbon, and he didn’t notice the headlights.

That was, until he tripped over his own feet, and stumbled directly into the path of an oncoming cab.


	8. The Night of the New Moon

“Are you sure?” Kagome stuttered at her wide-eyed friend.

“Room E10 Kagome,” Shiori replied. “Hurry.”   


Kagome nodded and took off at a sprint. She knew what Trauma 1 meant. Trauma 1 meant that there was a significant chance of death. And what the  _ hell _ could happen to a half-demon that caused injuries so grievous that he required  _ Level 1 Trauma?!?! _

Room E10 was chaos. Dr. Suikotsu was barking out orders: “Get him aspirated  _ now _ ! We need to prep him before he loses any more blood! Yura. O-negative. We don’t have time to test him.”

Kagome watched as one giant needle plunged into the dark-haired man’s chest.

Dark hair?  
Maybe Shiori was mistaken; maybe it wasn’t Inuyasha.

But then Kagome’s eyes followed the action of Jinenji, the other nurse in the room, who was starting an IV as fast as he could. On the left arm of this dark-haired man was the fanged grin of a mating mark, one that matched her own.

Inuyasha was human. And Inuyasha was on the brink of death.

Kagome stepped back, away from the room, letting herself listen to Suikotsu take charge. She knew that she would just get in the way. The way that her heart had felt squeezed in a vice told her that. But, she listened.

“...internal bleeding… the ribs are the priority… OR6 is being prepped.” Kagome heard Suikotsu talking through what was coming next. “But we need to get the arms and leg set too before sunrise…”

_ Sunrise. _   
This had all happened to Inuyasha on his human night.   
The night of the new moon.   
Tonight.

“...Only unconscious… but he’s now stable…” Suikotsu’s words continued to carry into the hallway. “We just need to keep him alive until sunrise. And goddammit we’re  _ going to or I will be pissed off. _ ”

An orderly came rushing into E10. “Dr. Renkotsu is prepped and ready.”

Kagome stepped back as the bed carrying her unconscious soulmate was rushed toward the OR. She couldn’t move her legs. Couldn’t speak. This couldn’t be happening. She’d only just met him. Only just figured him out. Only just learned his  _ last name _ . And instead of going to his house and demanding answers, he was here. At her hospital.

“Higurashi?” Dr. Suikotsu emerged from the room, holding the chart.

“I… I was going to help,” Kagome said lamely. It wasn’t a lie.

“Better that you didn’t,” Suikotsu replied, pointing down on Kagome’s exposed mark. “He was sporting one of those too.”

“I… we barely know each other.” Kagome slid down the wall as she lost her ability to hold herself up. “I was gonna visit him… tonight.”

“So, your mystery soulmate turns out to be a half-demon,” Suikotsu raised an eyebrow. “I had to threaten Jak with bodily harm to get him to shut up about your bite-and-run.”

“Is… is… he…” Kagome couldn’t finish her thought, so she swallowed, “What happened?”

“Hit by a car when he had a BAC of 0.30,” Suikotsu answered. “Fast enough that he went through the windshield. Guy’s lucky to be alive.”

“Shit,” Kagome said, trying to keep the upwelling of panic from reaching her face. She was a nurse. This was her job. She couldn’t let the fact that she’d only finally solved the mystery of her soulmate cloud her judgment.

“I’m gonna do my damndest not to let him die, Higurashi.” Suikotsu put a hand on her shoulder. “If only to keep from having Jak hold it over my head for the next thousand years.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Kagome poked Suikotsu’s arm weakly. God, even her sarcasm was short-circuiting from this.

“His emergency contact was a coworker.” Suikotsu pulled Kagome back to her feet. “If… you promise to behave when he gets back, I’ll look the other way. But Higurashi? I will  _ fuck you up _ if you impede us from doing our jobs.”

“I promise.” Kagome remembered at that moment why she liked Dr. Suikotsu so much. “And… thank you.”

“Don’t say anything yet.” Suikotsu backed away. “It’s gonna be a long wait for sunrise.”

Kagome nodded, and Dr. Suikotsu rushed away, probably to go and observe Inuyasha’s surgery. She wanted to follow him, but… she shouldn’t. And… she couldn’t.

Kagome clocked out, 15 minutes before her shift officially ended, and changed into a clean set of scrubs. She wasn’t going anywhere tonight. She needed to be here with her half-demon soulmate who apparently got so drunk he almost killed his fool self while he was human. Once he woke up and healed, Kagome was going to kick his ass.

She prayed he would wake up.

“I don’t fucking care I am not family, I was called for  _ Inuyasha Taisho _ .” A booming feminine voice echoed through the hallway. “Where is he?”

“Maybe I can help you.” Kagome ran up to the angry brunette woman currently accosting Shiori. “Are you Inuyasha’s emergency contact?”

The woman’s brown eyes widened as she took Kagome in, fixing themselves on Kagome’s unhidden arm. She made a lunge for Kagome,  grabbing her by the left wrist, and fingering around the mark. Kagome tried to jerk her hand away, but the woman was too strong, and seemingly too entranced to do anything except for stare.

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/629348420123033600/its-tuesday-here-is-a-scene-of-kagome-sango)

Artwork by [i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/)

* * *

“You’re… you’re  _ her _ !” the woman shrieked, having temporarily forgotten that she was in a hospital looking for Inuyasha. She gave Kagome’s left arm another enthusiastic tug. “Holy shit. It’s exactly the same.”

“Didn’t your mother tell you not to grab people you don’t know?” Kagome growled, yanking her hand back from the mystery woman.

“Oh. Sorry,” the woman said, not taking her eyes off the mark. “I just… he’s been so down about it all. I’m Sango Tajiya. I’m friends with Inuyasha.”

“Kagome Higurashi,” Kagome frowned.

Once Sango finally peeled her eyes away from the mark, she looked back at Kagome, her face laced with concern.

“What… what happened?” Sango’s eyes narrowed. “Where is Inuyasha?”

“He… he was hit by a car,” Kagome answered, trying her best to school her features and remain calm and professional. She couldn’t get the image of his black hair and limp arm out of her head.

“ _ Shit _ .” Sango lifted her hand to her lips, looking like she was going to be sick. Before she continued, she trained her eyes on Kagome again. “Were you with him?”

“No.” Kagome didn’t like where this was going. “If the scrubs and little name badge weren’t clue enough, I  _ work _ here. And I’ve been at work since noon.”

Kagome stared right back into Sango’s eyes. She would not sit and let this random woman accuse her of hurting her soulmate. Sure… fine… she had plans to murder him, but not like  _ murder _ murder him. Just… make him spend at least the next couple of years doing amazing things to her body to apologize for running away from her. Three times.

“What did that idiot do…” Sango’s eyes switched from accusatory to concerned quickly.

“Kagome? He’s going to be transferred to post-op wing, room B35.” Shiori’s voice cut through the awkwardness between the two women.

“Thanks Shiori.” Kagome looked at the soulful violet eyes of her friend, then at the stricken brown ones of her soulmate’s emergency contact. “Come on, Sango. There’s a decent waiting room up there.”

Sango nodded and wordlessly followed Kagome through the hospital.

“I… I didn’t know he found you,” Sango spoke quietly the moment the two women were alone in the elevator.

“Found me?” Kagome repeated what Sango said.

What the hell did she mean  _ found me _ ? If she hadn’t followed her spidey sense on the subway that very day, she wouldn’t even know Inuyasha was a half-demon… let alone his last name.

“Yeah.” Sango looked Kagome in the eyes. “He’s been freaking out about it since his full demon marked you. We’ve had to reinforce a punching bag for him.”

“I’m still not following.” Kagome glared at Sango.

“Oh.  _ Fuck _ . He hasn’t told you, has he?” Sango shook her head, “That  _ idiot. _ ”

“Told me  _ WHAT _ …” Kagome enunciated her words in the deadly way her mother used to do it when she or her brother had done something truly bad.

“Okay, I am getting so fucking  _ sick _ of this!” Kagome rounded on Sango, her temper and panic finally coming to the surface. “I meet this guy. He walks me home,  _ bites _ me, then walks off into the fucking night. The next day, I find out I’ve been  _ mate-marked _ by said guy. I don’t see him for a  _ fucking month _ and he shows back up. He doesn’t tell me anything… then… he fucking  _ leaves _ again.” Kagome could feel the tears trying to escape from her eyes, but fuck her tears. She needed to be pissed right now. “Then  _ today _ , I see a half-demon who looks like Inuyasha on the train and  _ guess what? _ It  _ is _ Inuyasha. My fucking soulmate. You know what he did today? He fucking  _ ran away from me _ . It was like he didn’t even know who I was. And  _ NOW _ that motherfucker got drunk and threw himself in front of a car on his  _ human night _ . Am I… am I really that  _ awful _ a fucking soulmate? That he’s hiding his entire fucking  _ life from me?  _ And now… the best part is I finally  _ found him _ , and he’s gonna die? I fucking  _ hate him _ ! I hate him so much I just… I just...”

Kagome’s rage died in her throat. The words she thought were still there had stopped coming, as emotionally drained as she was. Her heart had shattered into a million pieces. She was so angry and scared and frustrated and confused. And even in spite of herself, in spite of him marking her and fucking her and running away, she  _ liked him _ . A lot. Too much. She wanted to know this half-demon who was such a cocky bastard that he talked his way into her  _ soul _ . And now? He was in the type of surgery that people didn’t always survive.

Sango’s arms found their way around Kagome as she tried not to collapse, tried not to cry, tried to shove it all down and just feel angry. But it didn’t work, because she could hear Sango crying too. The two of them  _ sobbed _ . She didn’t know if it was for the same or different reasons, and she really didn’t care. Right now, this woman was the only connection to her soulmate.

The elevator pinged, startling them both back to reality. They looked at each other, wiped their tears, then left the elevator. They two headed toward the little waiting area near the recovery rooms, arm-in-arm. Kagome knew that someone would let her know when Inuyasha was out of surgery. Hospitals had eyes and ears everywhere, and she had no doubt that the rumor of Kagome’s mystery soulmate had already spread. She was just thankful Jakotsu was probably already at home—he was the last person she needed to deal with at the moment.

“You’re not… mad that he’s a half-demon?” Sango sniffled, letting go as they made it to the little room.

“CHRIST! No! Of course not! I’m mad he didn’t think I could handle him telling me. I’m mad he left me high and dry and only snuck back to me when he could keep his fucking  _ secret _ ,” Kagome raged. It felt  _ good _ to rage. It suffocated the sense of hopelessness.

“Well, I think… I think I have answers for you.” Sango ran her hands through Kagome’s hair. “I can’t promise it will answer everything, but… a lot more will make sense.”

“I’m all ears.” Kagome plopped herself down on the pleather chair, crossing her legs and waiting.

“Inuyasha… doesn’t remember his full demon nights,” Sango said. “He’s never talked to me about  _ why _ that happens, but… he blacks out.”

“Wait.” Kagome surely must have heard her wrong.

“Kagome!” a smooth but concerned voice called from down the hall, Miroku. “How is he? How are you?”

Yep, hospitals were worse than high schools when it came to gossip.

“Dunno,” Kagome shrugged, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. She was so close to understanding what the hell was going on!

Miroku came directly to her and pulled her up and into a big hug. Kagome tried to push him away, mostly because his comfort was bringing the tears back to the surface and she really really didn’t want to cry again. Not when…

“This is Sango.” Kagome pushed Miroku away just in time to avoid the tears that threatened to fall. “Inuyasha’s emergency contact.”

Kagome nearly groaned when she realized that Miroku had that dumb look he always got when he saw a beautiful woman. Actually, this dumb look was dumber than usual. Sango’s eyes widened as she took in the chaplain, letting out the slightest twinkle of approval, before hardening once again, completely aware that she was being  _ appraised _ . Kagome coughed, which seemed to break both of them out of the trance that they’d trapped each other in.

“Sango, Miroku is the chaplain here. And my friend.” Kagome narrowed her eyes at the dark-haired monk, whose lips had started curling into a little smile. Kagome knew what was coming next.

“It is a  _ pleasure _ to meet you, Sango.” Miroku  _ bowed _ .

“Enough monk,” Kagome grumbled. “You can flirt with her when my soulmate is not on the brink of death.”

It was meant to be funny, witty even, but the tone in Kagome’s voice was neither. It was scared. It was sad. And it brought the three of them back to the present, back to the waiting.

“Uh. Sango. Can you… can you explain what you meant about not remembering?” Kagome felt stupid, sheepish. She should just wait until Inuyasha woke up to get her answers. But… what if he didn’t wake up? Miroku put his arm around Kagome, and both sat down.

“Yeah.” Sango also returned her concentration to Kagome. “Something happened when Inuyasha was younger. He’s never told me what, and I don’t ask. But… when he becomes full demon, he… he blacks out. Sort of like a werewolf—don’t tell him I called him that.”

“He… doesn’t remember?” Miroku had leaned forward, and Kagome recognized the spark of interest alight in his eye. “But… the Inuyasha that Kagome describes is… lucid. My understanding is that the only time a half-demon doesn’t remember a transformation is when he goes into a blood rage.”

“Well. Inuyasha is lucid, he just doesn’t remember. It’s more like…” Sango continued. “Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

“Fascinating…” Miroku looked excited. Kagome growled.

“So, you’re telling me that his full demon found me but… didn’t… tell him who I was?” Kagome asked.

“Yeah,” Sango answered. “He freaked out when he saw the mating mark. And it took a while, but I think he was really ashamed that ‘the asshole’ did that to someone and they were going to find out that they were not mated to a full demon. I think he may have even believed that you wouldn’t accept him.”

“Half-demons and part-demons do sometimes get rejected by their soulmates,” Miroku said sadly.

“I wouldn’t,” Kagome stressed, picturing those sad eyes on the train, that defeated form on the platform as the subway train took off without him on it, the limp arm as he lay half-dead on the hospital bed. “I wouldn’t reject him. Not for that. Not for… not even for being an idiot.”

Sango laughed. “Well that’s a relief. Because one thing about Inuyasha is that he… he’s an idiot. A lot.”

“Why didn’t he just  _ tell me _ ?” Kagome moaned. “Fuck. If he’d told me. Any time he came to see me…”

“He’s an  _ idiot _ ,” Sango enunciated, sniffles mixing in with her voice. “He was probably so scared. And… well… at least until today I think he only knew your  _ scent _ .”

“That explains the sniffing.” Kagome rolled her eyes, smiling just a little bit. “It must have been the first time Dr. Jekyll found me. Okay it’s settled. I am going to kick his full demon’s ass…”

“The amnesia doesn’t bother you?” Sango pressed.

“He’s my soulmate. My soul wouldn’t say yes to someone who only appeared the night of the full moon. At least… I don’t think it would…” Kagome sighed, “I just… well… I  _ hope _ we get to find out.”

“Ms. Tajiya?” Suikotsu appeared at the little waiting area, giving a curt nod to Kagome and Miroku, “Inuyasha made it out of surgery. He’s stable, but he’s in for a rough night. We were able to repair the damage to his lungs, as well as reset his ribs. We also reset the tibia, and believe that once his yōki returns, the rest of his bones will heal properly.”

“Th-thank you,” Sango stuttered, not quite meeting Dr. Suikotsu’s eyes.

“Is… is he going to wake up?” Kagome looked into Suikotsu’s soulful gray eyes.

“You know I don’t like to make predictions like that Higurashi. He’s in B35,” Suikotsu answered. “Keep outta the way. But… last time I checked, a soulmate and an emergency contact were  _ both  _ considered family.”

“Thank  _ you _ ,” Kagome said, trying to keep the tears down.

“You both look like you could use some coffee. I’ll be back.” Miroku squeezed Kagome’s hand and left the little waiting area.

“I’ll join you!” Sango sprang up, striding directly up to the monk. “Kagome? We’ll be back soon.”

Kagome simply nodded, then headed to B35.

When Kagome entered, it was the first time she’d been able to really look at him. His face was a criss-cross pattern of cuts from the glass, and both his eyes looked to be swollen shut. Thankfully, they didn’t have him on a respirator. His right arm and both legs were in casts, and she could see that his entire midsection had been bandaged. But even under all the bandages, under the bruises and cuts and tubes and swelling, even under the  _ human _ , Kagome could see Inuyasha. She could see her soulmate. He was there, and she hoped to Christ that he would be there when sunrise hit and his healing accelerated.

Kagome walked up to him, looking at the little smiling mating mark on his left arm, the mark they  _ shared _ . Kagome leaned down to it and gave it the lightest of kisses.

“Please wake up Inuyasha,” Kagome whispered into his human ear and ran her fingers through his human hair. “Please wake up for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to add an immense thank you to [C_storm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_Storm) for helping me with the hospital parts of this chapter. They helped me immensely make what happened and what followed realistic.
> 
> **Due to[Sins Week](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Inuyasha_Sins), the next chapter of Last Train to Rockaway will be posted on Sunday, Sep 27**


	9. Two Reunions

It was dark. That was the first thing Inuyasha noticed. All around him, dark.   
Everything felt dull.  
He tried to move. He couldn’t.  
What the fuck was going on?

Then the next sensation hit him: pain. Excruciating. And seemed to fill every crevice of his unmoving body. He wanted to cry out, to run and hide himself and wait to heal, but… he couldn’t. He was trapped in the black.

“Fuck.” Inuyasha could… speak?  
No. The words did not escape his lips. But… at least he could process language. Wherever this dark prison was, his mind was able to work.

“Well I’ll be goddamned.” The voice was gruff and familiar, coming from somewhere behind him.

Inuyasha turned around and saw that there was a singular figure in the darkness.

He had long silver hair, and triangular ears. But the things that stood out were that he had purple streaks across his face, blood red sclera and cyan irises. He wore a fangy grin on his face that made Inuyasha want to punch it. His full demon was also wearing a stark black t-shirt and pants with a bright purple belt buckle. When Inuyasha focused on the full demon’s claws, they were dark red. Were they dripping with blood? Inuyasha was unsure.

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/629986686322032640/hello-friend-i-hope-you-are-having-a-great)

Artwork by [i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com)

* * *

"Traumatic brain injury as a human," the full demon drawled, "that was not how I expected you to bring us back together."

“What the  _ fuck _ is going on?” Inuyasha stormed at his full demon, stopping just short of the other man’s nose.

“You don’t remember?” full demon Inuyasha questioned, unphased by Inuyasha’s aggressive growling. “The drinking, the self-loathing, the car, then… must be the ambulance? Truly shit-brained thing to do on human night.”

“How… how are you— _ we _ —even here?” Inuyasha pressed his finger into the chest of his full demon, only to find that it punched directly through, which just added to his confusion.

“I’m in your brain, stupid,” his full demon scoffed, “same as you.”

“But…” Inuyasha stuttered.   
It didn’t make sense. It  _ was _ his human night, so… why was his full demon there?

“Because I am part of your  _ brain _ , Inuyasha. Kikyo was right. Your locking me out was a  _ brain _ issue, not a yōki issue. But… you know that.”

Inuyasha shook his head. He didn’t want to hear it, but… well… he knew it. Obviously.

_ Please wake up Inuyasha.  
_ It was faint, and both he and his full-demon turned to look around and see where it came from, where  _ she _ came from.

It was the soft voice of his soulmate, muffled through what he imagined were his human ears. Was she there? Or was she a figment of his broken brain’s imagination? Hearing  _ her _ voice—the voice that he’d only heard on the subway, the voice that the  _ asshole _ got to hear in the throes of passion, the voice but not the name—set him off.

“You took her away from me.” Inuyasha rounded on the full demon. “You took my  _ soulmate away from me _ .”

“You still don’t  _ get it _ , do you?” the full demon shouted back, “I stole  _ nothing from you _ .”

Inuyasha wanted to strike out at his full demon. To shove him away as hard as he could. He wanted to lock his full demon inside even deeper, where he couldn’t even come out on full moon nights. And Inuyasha would take his soulmate away and never let  _ him _ near her again.

_ Fuck _ . He knew her scent and he knew she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and he knew he would follow her to the ends of the earth but… he didn’t even know…

“Kagome,” the full demon said. “Her name is Kagome.”

“You get to remember her,” Inuyasha said, swallowing heavily.

His full demon howled at this and took a swipe at Inuyasha’s face. He flinched, but the bloody claws went right through his face.

“I  _ am _ you dipshit! We are one in the same! Even when you shoved me aside so you could  _ forget _ , that didn’t make me any less you, or you less me!” The full demon’s words echoed through him, but Inuyasha caught what was underneath the fury.  _ Hurt _ .

“I… I couldn’t do what you did.” Inuyasha shook his head as hard as he could, trying to will his full demon away.

_ Inuyasha. I’m here. I’m not leaving. Not today. Not tomorrow. So just… wake up, okay?  
_ Her voice again.  _ Kagome’s _ voice. It was beautiful and so…  _ sad _ . He’d run away from her, and… she was here. Wherever he was in the darkness.

“She’s a nurse.” The full demon’s voice had emotion in it, sadness, longing.

“So… that must mean I’m at the hospital.” Inuyasha wanted to wake up, to see her. But he couldn’t even smell her.  _ Fuck.  _ He kept forgetting that he was human right now.

“Better than dead,” the full demon deadpanned. “So don’t go dyin’ like a little bitch. That would piss her off.”

“Keh. Sunrise is comin,’” Inuyasha bluffed, “I can make it ‘til then.”  
He could still feel the pain in his body but… he also felt like he was starting to… connect more to it. It was as if he was starting to resurface from wherever he was, buried in his own mind.

“Then we don’t have much time to do what we gotta do.” the full demon half-commanded, half-pleaded. “You understand, don’t you? What I want? What I’ve wanted since…  _ that _ day.”

“Fuck. I  _ know, _ okay?” Inuyasha growled, but then grew quieter. “I know.”

“Then what the fuck are you waiting for? Hurry and let me back in!” the full demon half-whined and half-snarled. “That’s all I ever fucking wanted. To be… back. To not be locked away when I was inconvenient and only gettin’ to come out  _ once a fucking month _ .”

“Is that why you did it? Why you  _ kept one of the most important moments of my life away from me _ ?” Inuyasha snarled right back. “Why you took—“

“What did I fucking take?” Rage started to flare in the full demon’s eyes at Inuyasha’s words. They both knew what Inuyasha meant.

“ _ Her _ ,” Inuyasha answered, the low tone of his voice from both anger and desperation. “You took  _ her _ from me.”

“I fucking  _ did not _ !” The full demon looked desperate. “ _ We _ met a woman whose scent drove us crazy.  _ We _ flirted with that woman.  _ We _ bit her and found out she was  _ our _ soulmate. And then, because you would fuck it all up,  _ I _ went to her again… so that  _ we _ could claim  _ our _ soulmate!”

“Now that she’s seen  _ you _ she’s never gonna want anything to do with  _ me _ !” Inuyasha shouted back.

“We’re the same  _ fucking person _ !” the full demon protested. “We always have been.  _ You’re _ the one who keeps pretending that we’re different.  _ You’re _ the one who hides me away!”

“Well, I’m… scared, okay?,” Inuyasha whimpered at his full demon. “I’m fucking terrified of what you made me become. What… what you could make me become again…”

“ _ Fuck _ !” The full demon turned away from Inuyasha. “You gotta accept me. Jesus-fucking-Christ. You  _ can’t keep pretending that I am not you. That you and I are not one and the same _ .”

“B-but… if I accept  _ you _ … then, what the fuck did  _ I _ do that day?” Inuyasha could see it: that night. The night he gave into his full demon and massacred a mob.

_ You’re an idiot you know. Did you really think I’d reject you because you’re half-demon? I would never do that Inuyasha. We’re… stuck with each other. Even if I have to punch you a couple… hundred more times.  
_ Kagome’s voice was getting louder. And he swore he could feel a soft hand stroke his forehead.

“She doesn’t know… if she can truly accept me,” Inuyasha said miserably. “If she knew what yo—what  _ I _ did.”

“Fucking  _ finally _ we are getting somewhere!” The full demon…  _ grinned _ .

“Just tell me… Jesus. You’re  _ me _ and you’re still choosing to be  _ cagey _ ?” Inuyasha bared his teeth.

“You  _ know _ what comes next,” his full demon asserted.

And well, he did. Inuyasha  _ knew _ what was coming. What he’d been avoiding. What he had to do. Just as the full demon took a step forward, Inuyasha stopped him.

“Wait. I… I just want to hear her voice. One more time,” Inuyasha begged.

The full demon nodded, and together, they waited. They waited for their soulmate to whisper to them, to tell them it was going to be okay, to give them hope. Inuyasha needed Kagome’s words to lend him strength to take the step he needed to take to reclaim his full demon. And, as if Kagome’s soul heard Inuyasha’s, her words followed.

_ I… I’m scared. Seeing you today, as you are… it… it lit something inside of me. It… it made me want to know you. I don’t care if you're a half-demon and I don’t care that you can’t remember your full moon nights... P-Please Inuyasha, wake up. So I can get to know you. And you can get to know me.  
_ Kagome somehow knew about his full moon nights. And… she didn’t care? She wanted to know him anyway? It was… it was almost too much.

It was also everything to him. The words were his hope, his motivation.   
Inuyasha would wake up to meet Kagome. Inuyasha would… accept himself… for Kagome.

“Okay.” Inuyasha looked at the full demon. “I-I’m ready.”

The full demon nodded solemnly, and both of them closed their eyes.

When they opened them, the landscape was completely changed. Instead of blackness, or even the metal of the city, they were standing in the square of a small village. Huts were burning, and Inuyasha could hear the muffled whimpers of women and children in the background. The memory of the smell hit him first. He could smell the charred buildings and the musk of entrails but… all was overpowered by blood. At least twenty different signatures of blood coated his nostrils, leaving the burn of guilt in its wake.

Most of the men were dead, laying like limp dolls in a circle around Inuyasha, pitchforks, torches, and rifles scattered where they were dropped. There were slashes across most of their bodies, deep enough that the dead were watering the land with their blood. The eyes of most of the men were open, frozen in the fear they experienced in their last moments alive, regretting their hunt for the half-breed. Closer in, they lay still where they’d attacked, but further out, the men were cut down as they fled. It looked like he’d even slashed the throat of one man who’d dropped to his knees to beg for his life. None of them were shown mercy, none of them were given even the decency of a clean death.

“I did this.” Inuyasha looked down at his claws, coated in blood.

“ _ We _ did this,” his full demon corrected.

“No.  _ I _ did this.” Inuyasha wasn’t going to hide from it anymore. “They… pissed me off. I was so fucking tired of running from dipshits calling me an  _ abomination _ . And they… they…  _ insulted my mother _ . I… I knew what would happen if I let  _ you _ loose and I chose to do it anyway.”

“I remember. You… usually hold me back. But… you didn’t.” The full demon looked into Inuyasha’s eyes. “You  _ wanted  _ to let your rage out.”

“I used you as a weapon,” Inuyasha admitted. “Then… I blamed  _ you _ when… it was always me. I-I’m  _ sorry. _ To you. To these men. To… to the people whimpering in those houses. I… I don’t ever want to do that again.”

“Shoving me down isn’t the way to prevent this from happening,” the full demon said.

“No,” Inuyasha answered. “I… my rage. I can’t let it  _ ever _ get the best of me like that again.”

“Has it?” the full demon asked.

“No… not… after that.” Inuyasha swallowed. “Not after I did that.”

After that night, he suppressed his full demon in fear of it happening again because… because he wasn’t willing to admit to himself that he'd made _ the choice _ to let the full demon out to eviscerate those men. But,  _ he _ was the one who killed all those men. And  _ he _ was the one who knew he would never do it again.

The moment that Inuyasha really truly  _ accepted _ that truth, he felt himself being tugged forward, toward his other self. When the two made contact, Inuyasha felt strangely like he was being submerged in water, holding his breath while it overtook more and more of his senses. As he slowly felt himself rising to the surface, he felt more…  _ complete _ , as if he were… absorbing something…  _ someone. _

By the time he felt like he could breathe again, he was alone, but he was also whole.

Then images started flooding his mind.

He was bounding through the woods, dancing from tree to tree howling at the full moon. Then he was at a bar joking around with a bald and mohawked wolf demon, buying the rest of the bar a round. Then he was on the top of a skyscraper (and then he was in jail…)

Memories.  _ His lost memories _ were streaming back into his mind. Women he picked up, cigarettes he smoked, the kebab vendor who liked to greet him with a “yo dog!”

And finally, the memories Inuyasha wanted most. The ones of  _ her. _

He was wandering through Manhattan, planning on finding a bar and maybe a good-looking woman when he smelled it: cherry blossoms and vanilla. He growled at the cigarette in his mouth; it obscured the delicate scent he now knew he had to follow. So he used his nose as best he could to trail it. Then, before he knew it, he saw  _ her _ , the source of the scent. Black wavy hair, chocolate eyes and a scowl. Her gait was stunted, as if she’d been on her feet all day. It made him want to throw her on his back and take her wherever she wanted to go. He needed to know who this woman was, so he followed her.

She was different from the other ones. Unique. He  _ liked _ the scowl on her face. So when she hopped onto the A train toward Far Rockaway, he couldn’t resist. He would go anywhere she was going. They bantered, they walked under the moon, they kissed and he bit her, desperately hoping that her soul would accept his. As he walked home, he kept glancing down at the place on his wrist where a mark would appear. When it didn’t, he pushed her scent out of his mind with cigarettes, and the taste of her sweet lips and salty skin out with kebabs. He would never regret trying, and he would never regret hoping that Kagome, the woman with the whip-sharp wit and the intoxicating scent was meant to be his soulmate.

Inuyasha gasped as it all came back to him. There she was,  _ Kagome _ . Calling him an asshole, and stealing the cigarette he hated but his full demon seemed to love. Kissing him and punching him. He’d loved her from her scent alone, but  _ this _ . It was more than he could have dreamed.

Before he could fully process that memory, another came rushing in.

Kagome. All of Kagome. Of her arousal and her lips and her hands. Of the bites she used when he misbehaved. Of her impish smile as she peeled off her clothing. Of her moans of  _ his _ name. Of  _ claiming her _ and feeling  _ claimed _ by her. Of… of her misery as he tried to figure out how to get himself out of the hell of his own creation. Of… tearing everything apart in his rage and desperation.

Inuyasha dropped to his knees. In that dark place, he’d reclaimed himself. He could feel  _ him _ —the full demon—settling back into his soul, now liberated from his prison, and… it felt great. He had not realized how much he  _ missed _ that part of him until he was back.

“Now I just need to wake up,” he thought, looking around in the darkness, pleased to feel the full demon part of him smirk. “But… that feels like it’s comin’ soon too.”

_ It’s almost here Inuyasha. You almost made it!  
_ Kagome’s voice was ragged, but closer than it had been before. And this time, he  _ definitely  _ felt her hands stroking his cheek. The pain too was feeling more substantive, like the walls of the darkness were thinning, like he was starting to feel his own body again.

_ Fuck _ , he wanted to touch her back so badly. He wanted to see her with his own eyes. To say how sorry he was for his assholery and tell her everything was going to be okay, that he’d found himself again. He wanted to kiss her and ask her on a date and tell her how fucking  _ elated _ he was that she was his soulmate.

“Kagome.” As Inuyasha tried to say her name, he found himself struggling against some unknown force.

Then he felt it—one of his favorite feelings in the whole world. The stirring of his yōki. Sunrise was almost here.

_ I-Inuyasha?  
_ Kagome’s voice was clearer than ever. And… she was  _ replying _ to him.

It wasn’t just his yōki awakening, it was also  _ him _ .

He tried not to squeal with the glee he felt. The pain was growing with his awareness, but… Inuyasha had felt worse. He wasn’t going to die; he refused to. Not when he was this close to seeing Kagome.

A second pulse hit him and he felt the fire of his yōki light. If he was awake, he knew his hair would be turning from black to silver, that his eyes would become amber, his claws would emerge and his ears would shift to their rightful place. His senses were returning too—he could hear the beeps of the machines he was hooked to, and the quiet breathing of someone in his room. But it was when his sense of smell returned, when he made out the cherry blossoms and vanilla, that he knew  _ she _ was the one sitting in that room with him. He felt his yōki surround his injuries and start knitting him back together. It hurt like  _ fuck _ , but it also told him that he was indeed alive.  _ He’d made it _ .

“Kitten?” Inuyasha’s words still came out muffled, but he was finally waking up properly.

“W-what did you call me?” Kagome’s footsteps brought her to him, and he felt her warm hand stroke his hair.

It took enormous effort, but Inuyasha did not give up until he managed to open his eyes. Staring back at him was the most beautiful woman he could ever imagine. He wanted to raise his arm and touch her back but… he was hooked to too many things.

“I called ya  _ kitten _ ,” Inuyasha smiled, transfixed on the sight of his soulmate before him. “Hope you don’t hate it when a half-demon calls you it.”

“You… do you  _ remember? _ ” Kagome whimpered, obviously holding back tears threatening to escape her luminous chocolate eyes.

“Short answer is yeah,” Inuyasha replied, his voice ragged both from his (now rapidly-healing) injuries but also from his  _ joy _ . “Long answer is… I’ll tell you all about it if you let me take you out to dinner.”

Kagome threw her head back in a truly rapturous laugh. “Fuck yes,  _ asshole _ !”

She then threw her arms around him and kissed him with the fervor she’d done when he was a full demon, erasing any lingering doubts he may have had about whether she would accept him as a half-demon. The moment her delicate hands cupped his ears? He was ready to marry her.

“Tonight. Dinner  _ tonight. _ I don’t wanna wait. We… waited long enough for each other,” Inuyasha whispered, and he lifted his head so he could give his perfect soulmate one more kiss before the doctors caught on that he was awake.


	10. Coming Together

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/630970750055186432/hello-all-of-you-beautiful-people-first-of-all)

Artwork by [i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com)

* * *

“You’re still holding back!” Inuyasha grumbled, but he couldn’t keep the grin off his face. He never could. Not when his soulmate was wearing so few items of clothing and was growling at him like this.

“ _ You try _ to punch someone after an 8 hour shift,  _ Inuyasha _ !” Kagome exhaled, throwing much more of her weight from her gloves into the pads he was wearing. “Just let me take the gloves off and have a go at you barefisted.”

“Patience,  _ kitten _ ,” Inuyasha purred, absorbing the jab into the pad.

Two weeks ago, Inuyasha woke up whole. He was himself—human  _ and  _ demon—for the first time in decades. But no, it was more. His  _ soul _ was whole. Because of the wonderful, feisty woman that was currently not punching him hard enough. That she was only wearing a sports bra and cute little soccer shorts was not helping his concentration.

“I’m gonna uppercut your  _ face _ if you keep calling me that,  _ asshole _ !” Kagome countered, but her radiant smile gave away just how big of a lie that was. She fucking loved when he called her ‘kitten’, and he fucking loved when she called him ‘asshole’.

“Just picture… someone you need to punch. Channel the anger and stop worrying about hurting your opponent.” Inuyasha bounced around her, trying to get her to match his energy.

“You. I am picturing you,” Kagome snarled, sweat beading down her neck.  _ Fuck, _ how he wanted to lick it off of her.

“Looks like you don’t want to punch me as hard you used to,” Inuyasha barked out a laugh, which only served to make Kagome’s adorable eyebrows knit and her adorable nose scrunch.

Fuck, he was a goner.

“You  _ know _ what  _ tonight _ is, asshole… and… I need to have some words with that side of you,” Kagome countered, thrusting her gloved hand with a force that threw him a little backward.

As a coach, this was exactly the type of hit he was looking for. As the man who was going to be on the receiving end of whatever rage made her punch that hard, not  _ exactly _ what he was looking for. But, well… that side of him deserved to be punched.

“I can already feel that side of me stirrin’,” Inuyasha answered, and he could.

He was… excited. But he was also scared. True, he had all his memories back now. The night his dumb ass got run over by a cab really  _ had _ fused him back together. But still he wondered. What if for the rest of his life there would be a night he couldn’t be himself? A night… someone  _ else _ got to be with Kagome?

“You’ll be fine,” Kagome reassured, taking her gloves off. “I’ll be there. So even  _ if _ you dissociate, I’m sure I can keep you behaving.”

“I don’t even wanna  _ think _ about what you’d do to tame him. Erm… me.” Inuyasha scowled, but as soon as Kagome’s arms roped around his bare torso, and she leaned her sweaty body into his, he couldn’t bring himself to be mad.

“You know what Kikyo said.” Kagome let her head fall on his shoulder.  _ Fuck _ she smelled good. He was having trouble resisting the urge to bend her over right there. “It’s very  _ very _ likely that this change is permanent.”

Kagome was right, because Kagome was always right. She’d insisted that he reply to Kikyo’s more and more frantic text messages to him. And Kagome was there when he’d finally sat down to explain to Kikyo how it all happened. Kikyo had brought a tape recorder and took prolific notes, but at the end of the conversation, seemed satisfied that it  _ was _ a brain thing, and promised him that she’d get in touch if she ever wanted to turn him into a scholarly paper (both he  _ and  _ Kagome growled at that suggestion).

Still, he was worried.

“Hey Dr. Jekyll,” Sango’s voice came through the door of the gym’s private lessons room, “You two decent?”

“Yes!” they shouted in unison.

All it took was that  _ one time _ when their lessons got…  _ heated _ … for Sango to always check... and always needle them. Also… for them to have decided to… use the staff showers, which could  _ lock _ .

“We’re good tonight Yash if you want to get home.” Sango peeped her head through the door. “You probably have enough time before sunset still?”

“Thanks Sango!” Kagome said, arms still roped around Inuyasha’s body. “You ready?”

“Keh.” Inuyasha wanted to try to tell her not to come with him. But… not only would he  _ never _ win that argument, he also knew, no matter what, he wanted Kagome there.

Her presence reassured him that everything was going to be okay: through her scent, through her touch, through her voice. He also knew there was no way in hell that he’d be parted from her for long. If he transformed but was still  _ him _ , he’d immediately seek out and find Kagome. If he transformed and was still dissociating, he’d immediately seek out and find Kagome. 

Kagome gave him a little smirk, kissed his lips, then rushed off to the locker room to change. Inuyasha did the same, not bothering to shower. He was cutting it closer than usual this time, because he was… caught up in watching his beautiful soulmate get stronger, more precise, better. It was nice to know he could do something to help her protect herself, although she too would obviously always need his protection (and he would  _ always _ protect her).

“Train or superman?” Kagome asked when she emerged from the locker room, now dressed in sweats and a tank top.

“Which do  _ you _ think?” Inuyasha smirked, and Kagome squealed with delight.

He knew he shouldn’t be doing it so much. He was going to get reprimanded. But flying from rooftop to rooftop with Kagome clinging to his back had become one of his favorite things to do. She’d gasped the first time he’d leaped, then he could hear her laugh with delight as they flew through the sky, and she clung to him with a strength that made him wonder if she had some demon blood herself, and he fucking  _ loved it _ .

“Better get on then. Last thing we’d want is the asshole appearing while I’m on a skyscraper somewhere near 41st Street…” Inuyasha chuckled, and Kagome immediately obliged.

Six minutes, many rooftops, and a dozen or so confused onlookers later, Kagome was dismounting him gasping delightedly for air, still high from the ride. Inuyasha pulled out the keys to his apartment, and unlocked the door.

They only had about a half hour to wait before the biggest question would be answered.

“You… worried?” Kagome inquired, gently squeezing his bicep.

“Yeah,” Inuyasha answered honestly. The days of lying to his soulmate were over for him. Forever.

“I’m here,” Kagome said, feathering the lightest of kisses to his jawline.

“I know,” Inuyasha replied, not being able to resist pressing a kiss to the top of Kagome’s head.

As they walked into his apartment, Inuyasha looked around. Tonight he wouldn’t try to bike lock himself to a treadmill. And tomorrow, if he smelt of his soulmate, it wouldn’t upend his world (although if  _ the asshole _ got to fuck her, Inuyasha was going to please her better than the asshole could ever hope to.)

“And now we wait…” Kagome mused.

Inuyasha only then saw the concern lines in her forehead, the way she held her arms like she was hugging herself, a slightly haunted look in her eyes, and he realized that she was  _ worried too _ . For  _ him _ . True, when Sango found out his secret, she’d started to text him to check in. But, this was different. Inuyasha was part of a  _ team _ now, a team that would not give up on him if his… dissociation was still present.

Her worry was what cemented it for him. He didn’t have to be afraid. Not anymore. Not after he heard her voice reassuring him on the night of the new moon. Not when she forgave him his stupidity so quickly (and let him make it up to her  _ in the bedroom _ .) The asshole found her, but… he was the asshole and the asshole was him. So even if he dissociated and transformed, it was abundantly clear that the asshole would  _ never  _ do  _ anything _ to upset his soulmate. And Kagome would be there to keep him in line, then would be there for  _ him _ when he woke up.

“I love you.” Inuyasha didn’t know why the words rushed out of his mouth.

“What?” Kagome’s eyes widened, as surprised at his admission as  _ he _ was.

“Fuck. It’s too soon to say shit like that, isn’t it?” Inuyasha drooped his ears, both because, well,  _ shit _ , it was too soon, but also because he knew that nothing brought Kagome’s affection faster than when he did that.

But instead of frowning, or running away, Kagome  _ smiled _ .

“You’re full of surprises Inuyasha Taisho,” she beamed, “And fucking hell. I… I  _ love you too _ .”

Inuyasha closed the distance between them, pulling her in for a deep and avid kiss. He could taste the salt of her sweat from their bout on her lips, and he let his nostrils be invaded by her scent of cherry blossoms and vanilla. He was also overjoyed to smell the accompaniment of ginger and  _ absolutely zero _ scent of fear or apprehension.

As they kissed, Inuyasha began to feel the change that he feared for so long. His yōki thrummed under the surface, getting stronger and stronger and stronger, until it buzzed around him. This was the moment that he usually blacked out, only to wake up the following day having no idea what his full demon had done.

Today though…

_ Today _ , he felt his claws and fangs elongate. He felt the proud stripes of a full inuyōkai snake across his body. He felt his eyes turn sharper and more predatory. And he felt… Kagome’s lips still on his. He felt wild,  _ untamed _ but also completely and utterly content to continue claiming this woman’s lips.  _ His woman _ . The only woman he would ever need.

“Soulmate,” Inuyasha growled, trying to keep from ripping Kagome’s clothes from her body in his unfettered glee. He was still there. He was  _ himself _ even as his instincts broke through the surface.

“Inu-yasha?” Kagome pulled away, which made him whine. But the look in her eyes was full of concern.  _ His mate wanted to take care of him. _

“Still… here,” Inuyasha rumbled. “All of me…”

Kagome shrieked and threw herself into his arms.  _ Fuck _ had her weight against him ever made him this hard? He wanted to bite her neck and hold her down while she keened and cried his name. But… even now… when his yōki was flaring at its brightest, still he had control.

“I wanna fuck you,” Inuyasha purred, squeezing his mate’s perfect ass. “You smell so fucking delicious that I am gonna be running my tongue all over your body,  _ Ka-go-me _ .”

“Dirty dog,” Kagome giggled. “And only if you fuck me  _ in the shower _ . We both  _ stink _ , Inuyasha.”

“Delicious,” Inuyasha insisted. He didn’t want her scent mixed with stupid soap and water. He wanted to taste her musk.

“Shower,” Kagome snarled, then bit his neck.  
He fucking loved it. His mate was so fiery he would do anything she said.

“How are you gonna make it up to me?” Inuyasha thrust his hips into Kagome’s thighs, both to let her know how excited he was to be with her  _ and _ to give her a few ideas.

“Hmm… How about… we go back to my place. And I show you the gift I got you,” Kagome breathed.

“Don’t need anything but you.” Inuyasha squeezed Kagome’s ass in congress with his thrusting.

“Ohh. I think  _ this _ present may change your mind,” Kagome purred. “Shower? Then my place? Then your present?”

“Better be an amazing fucking present.” Inuyasha whined.   
That his dick was still not inside of Kagome was bothersome.

“Remember the first time we met… you asked me if I had a sexy nurse outfit?” Kagome giggled, pressing a kiss into the underside of Inuyasha’s chin.  _ Fuck. She was killing him. _ “Well… I have one.”

Kagome:  _ his  _ nurse. In a naughty nurse uniform.   
He thought it would be a difficult decision to agree.   
It was not a difficult decision.

“As long as I get to fuck you in the shower,” Inuyasha relented.

“You have a deal!” Kagome laughed, and she pressed her mouth back to his.

Inuyasha carried his soulmate into his bathroom. Even obscured by the fragrances of shower gel and shampoo, Kagome still smelled delicious. And as long as his cock was between her legs and his tongue was tasting every part of her, he would be satisfied.

He loved her. He said the words and they felt good. And now, he wanted to love her with his body.

So he spent the next couple hours doing just that, migrating from the bathroom to the bedroom. He worshipped his perfect soulmate’s body with his claws, with his fangs, with his tongue and with his cock. He teased his name from her tongue with his practiced licks. He made her arch her back and whimper incoherently by pressing into her with the perfect rhythm at the perfect angle. And when she’d had enough and let out a satisfied sigh, he pulled her close to him to remind her: he was hers and she was his.

“Hey Inuyasha,” Kagome whispered. Her naked chest pressed into his as she sat up from on top of him, “Still interested in that naughty nurse uniform?”

“Fuck yes.” Inuyasha tried not to spring out of bed too excitedly, but Kagome’s laugh was enough to tell him he’d failed.

He was getting his second...third...eighth? wind, and nothing sounded more enticing than seeing Kagome dressed like the nurse out of his fantasies, especially when he realized he would probably get to use his elongated claws and fangs to rip that outfit off of her. So intense was his fantasy that he was not even concerned about all the time he’d lose out on fucking her  _ more _ to get to her apartment in bumfuck.

“You coming?” Inuyasha grinned, passing Kagome the clothes he was now relieved he hadn’t ripped.

“Not quite yet,  _ asshole _ . Pretty sure that going outside requires clothes,” Kagome replied, still naked, a twinkle in her eye as she wriggled into her underwear, followed by the rest of clothing. She looked a goddamn dream, clothed or unclothed.

When they left his apartment, Inuyasha held Kagome’s hand and stared up at the full moon. He could remember the first time he caught her scent, the first time she gifted him with her fire, the first time he kissed her. And for some reason, he delighted in the idea of re-experiencing their fated train ride, and Kagome’s apartment as a full demon, but also  _ completely _ himself.

“I really do love you, kitten,” Inuyasha said, feeling the words reverberating through every part of him.

“I know, asshole.” Kagome answered, and squeezed his hand. “And god help me, I love you too. Even though half the time I want to punch you.”

“The other half you want to kiss me,” Inuyasha countered, still delighting in the euphoria of his yōki swirling around him and his soulmate’s hand in his.

“Well… you stopped smoking for me, after all,” Kagome laughed, and Inuyasha joined in.

She wasn’t wrong. In fact, Inuyasha hadn’t thought about cigarettes at all, even with his full demon back. Except… that a cigarette is what brought Kagome into his life. And now, her scent, her laugh, her touch, her wit,  _ her _ , was everything he would ever need: full moon night, new moon night, and every night in between.

Before they descended the subway steps, Inuyasha pulled Kagome in for one more kiss. Sure, he could say the words ‘I love you’ until his face turned blue, but… kissing her to tell her that was so much better.

“Come on. I will punish you if we miss our train.” Kagome poked him playfully.

“Ya promise?” Inuyasha rumbled, taking the opportunity to nip her ear in that way that made her shudder.

With a giggle, Kagome grabbed his hand and down the steps they both went.

[ ](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com/post/630625639981072384/happy-tuesday-everyone-can-you-believe-we-are)

Artwork by [i-dream-of-soup](https://i-dream-of-soup.tumblr.com)

* * *

The A train was surprisingly quiet that night. The usual bar-goers were more subdued than normal, choosing muted conversations with friends over the oft-raucous cacophony that accompanied all subway trains at that time of night. The conductor called out stop after stop, heading further and further away from Manhattan, and further and further into Queens.

But two people on that train, a raven-haired woman and a silver-haired demon, didn’t notice anyone else around them. They whispered and giggled at jokes only they seemed to understand. They leaned into each other, holding hands and proudly displaying their matching soulmate marks. But the marks were not needed to tell people these two were in love. The way they touched each other, looked at each other, smiled the moment they caught sight of the other’s eyes was enough for even the most unobservant subway rider. Wherever they were headed on that train, the last train of the night on the Far Rockaway line, they were going  _ together _ .


End file.
